Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2
LAREDO, Texas —
Carl O'Neal and
Derek Moczygemba were back in San Antonio presenting a senior project for their engineering course when the rest of their St. Mary's baseball teammates took the field Friday.
Fortunately for those two key Rattlers, their squad was left in good hands.
No. 9 St. Mary's topped Texas A&M International 3-1 and 4-1, riding complete-game victories from
Rene Solis and
Matt McClain to win a pair of Heartland Conference battles.
Though the Rattlers (32-12, 27-7) have already secured the Heartland regular-season title, they continue to play for important regional playoff positioning, where they currently sit No. 4 in the official NCAA rankings.
In Game 1, right fielder
Adrian Garcia went 2 for 3 with an RBI, while shortstop
Ivan Sigala and catcher
Scott Slusher also drove in one run apiece. On the mound, Solis, replacing O'Neal as the Game 1 starter, pitched all seven innings, striking out two while scattering three hits. He improved to 7-0 on the season.
Game 2 saw a similar performance, with McClain striking out seven after going the distance in the nine-inning affair. Garcia was hot again at the plate, going 3 for 5, while second baseman
Mario Maldonado drove in two runs and scored another on a 1-for-3 outing. Left fielder
Weston Heiligman, filling in for Moczygemba, also drove in a run.
The Rattlers will wrap up the three-game series at 12 p.m. Saturday.
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.
