Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2
ABILENE, Texas — No. 7 St. Mary's Baseball found itself on opposite ends of 4-3 scores Friday.
The Rattlers took Game 1 of a doubleheader against McMurry, 4-3, before dropping Game 2 by the same score following an extra-innings comeback by the WarHawks over the ninth and 10th innings.
St. Mary's (17-7) never trailed in the opener, using a two-run first inning to jump to a lead it would not relinquish.
Carl O'Neal (Sr., San Antonio) picked up the win to improve to 6-1 on the season, while closer
Jonathan Perez (Sr., San Antonio) collected save No. 6.
Second baseman
Mario Maldonado (So., Laredo, Texas) and third baseman
Al Gonzalez each drove in a run in the first, and outfielder
Billy Richard (Sr., Schertz, Texas) followed suit with an RBI on a sacrifice fly in the fifth to extend the lead to 3-1. Catcher
Scott Slusher drove in the Rattlers' final run in the seventh, giving them a 4-2 lead that would be cut to 4-3 in the bottom of the frame.
Late-inning power from the WarHawks (10-15) was a constant theme, as a ninth-inning run tied up Game 2, 3-3, followed by another run that won it in the 10th.
Down 2-0 through five innings, St. Mary's shortstop
Ivan Sigala (Sr., El Paso, Texas) drove in one run and outfielder
Adrian Garcia (Jr., El Paso, Texas) brought in two more to give the Rattlers their first lead, 3-2. St. Mary's carried that lead into the bottom of the ninth, when McMurry got going.
The teams will round out the three-game non-conference series at 1 p.m. Saturday in Abilene.
St. Mary's University, as a Catholic Marianist University, fosters the formation of people in faith and educates leaders for the common good through community service, integrated liberal arts and professional education, and academic excellence. The University has six athletic national titles: men's basketball (1989–NAIA), baseball (2001–NCAA Div. II), softball (1986–NAIA and 2002–NCAA Div. II) and an individual national champion in men's golf (2006–NCAA Div. II) and a national academic championship in men's golf (2009–NCAA Div. II). St. Mary's also had more than 40 percent of its athletes named to conference, regional and/or national honor rolls this past year. St. Mary's student–athletes graduation rate is 65 percent, higher than the NCAA Division II average of 55 percent. To learn more about St. Mary's, visit www.rattlerathletics.com.
