Box Score
FORT SMITH, Ark. — No. 7 St. Mary's finished its series with Arkansas-Fort Smith in the best possible scenario — a sweep.
The Rattlers completed the sweep of the Lions Sunday with a tight 2-1 victory to remain ahead of the Heartland Conference and hold onto their No. 1 rank in the league standings.
Now 22-9 on the season and 18-5 in conference play, the Rattlers' sweep had them take the season series over UAFS 4-2. As the No. 4 team in the league, the Lions gave the Rattlers two of their five league losses with this weekend's series acting as a vendetta for St. Mary's as well as a critical series in the close conference rankings. Texas A&M International, the No. 3 team in league, also took two games off the Rattlers and No. 2 in the league St. Edward's took one.
A quality start from
Rene Solis (Jr., San Antonio) geared the Rattlers for the win as the lefty threw a one-hitter in his six innings pitched, allowing the only Lion run for the game. Solis kept his clean record, improving to 4-0 on the season.
Kyle Bumpas (Jr., El Paso, Texas) pitched two innings in relief and held the Lions to two hits while striking out one.
Jonathan Perez (RS-Sr., San Antonio) closed out the game after tossing the final inning to record his sixth save on the season.
The multi-talented Bumpas and
Ivan Sigala (Sr., El Paso, Texas) had the bats in the finale with each smacking three hits apiece in the nine-hit victory. Sigala took advantage of his time on the bases, recording two steals and scoring both of the Rattlers' runs.
The Lions (16-13, 14-10 in conference) scored their lone run for the game in the first with the Rattlers responding with RBI singles from Bumpas in the second and
Scott Slusher (Sr., Grapevine, Texas) in the sixth.
The Rattlers got a scare in the eighth when a Lion at third tried to advance home off a double to tie the game, but the arm of centerfielder
Billy Richard (Sr., Schertz, Texas) was underestimated by UAFS and the runner was caught at home from centerfield as Slusher made the game-saving tag at the plate.
The putout deflated the Lions' hope for a comeback and the Rattlers were able to close out the win by one run for the needed sweep.
St. Mary's is back home for its next contest, facing regional contender Angelo State University at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Wolff Stadium.
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.
