Box Score
SAN ANTONIO — A 23-player rotation from Incarnate Word couldn't find a stop against the Rattlers, as No. 13 St. Mary's closed the historic rivalry Tuesday with an 8-4 victory.
On the night celebrating head coach
Charlie Migl's 1,000th career victory won in last weekend's sweep of Oklahoma Panhandle State, Migl and his Rattlers faced another historic feat Tuesday night as they closed the chapter on the rivalry with Incarnate Word in likely the last game the two will ever play as Incarnate Word moves divisions.
And the Rattlers took full advantage.
“It's sad losing (the rivalry); it's always fun to play these guys,” said centerfielder
Billy Richard. “We always have a high-intensity level when we come out against them and it's sad to see them go, but I'm glad we took the game from them (tonight).”
Richard (Sr., Schertz, Texas) pecked at the Cardinals' seven-pitching rotation throughout the night, smacking two hits including a monster triple to go along with a team-high three RBIs. Richard also scored two runs Tuesday, and has connected in eight of his last 17 at-bats.
“We've been doing a lot of work and working on my swing,” said Richard, who hit his first triple of the season Tuesday. “I was seeing the ball a lot better tonight and they were throwing me good pitches to hit and I was taking advantage of it.”
The Rattlers' 10-hit outing was also fueled by
Derek Moczygemba (Sr., Bulverde, Texas) who went 3 for 4 with two runs scored. Moczygemba also shook the Cardinals on the mound with a quality start of 6 2/3 innings pitched with seven strikeouts. Moczygemba improved to 2-2 on the season, allowing one earned run.
Ivan Sigala (Sr., El Paso, Texas) had the Rattlers' only other multiple-hit game, smacking two including a double for one RBI.
St. Mary's sharp bats and quality pitching improved it to 28-11 on the season.
With the rivalry with Incarnate Word (25-16) now in the books, St. Mary's quickly turns to its next rival, St. Edward's, in a pivotal three-game series this weekend.
As the Rattlers currently hold the No. 1 slot in the Heartland Conference and are three games ahead in the loss column of No. 2 St. Edward's, a series win would clinch the title for the Rattlers for the fourth consecutive season.
“This is a huge series for us — we're all grinning at the mouth to get to it,” said Richard of the high-stakes upcoming series. “We played well in our last series against OPSU and we played well tonight, and we're looking to keep rolling and hitting the baseball like we have been.”
St. Mary's starts its Battle of the Saints with the Hilltoppers with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. Saturday at the San Antonio ISD Sports Complex.
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.
