Box Score
KINGSVILLE, Texas — With several players stealing more than 20 stolen bases on the season, Colorado Mesa's calling card seemed evident. But it was that speed in the outfield that denied several of the Rattlers' hard hits as they fell 6-2.
St. Mary's loss in the opening round of the South Central Region Tournament on Thursday drops it into the loser's bracket for Friday's game. The Rattlers will face No. 6-seeded Colorado State-Pueblo at 11 a.m. Friday at Texas A&M-Kingsville's Nolan Ryan Field.
The Rattlers led off quick, picking up two runs in the first inning spurred by a leadoff single from
Adrian Garcia (RS-Jr., El Paso, Texas). The bases were then loaded for Daktronics All-Region First Team selectee and Heartland Conference Player of the Year
Brandon Bates (Sr., Boerne, Texas) following back-to-back walks of
Derek Moczygemba (Sr., Bulverde, Texas) and
Al Gonzalez (RS-Fr., Pasadena, Texas). Bates took advantage, smacking a hard single to bring in Garcia and Moczygemba to give the Rattlers life early on.
Rene Solis (Jr., San Antonio) and the Rattlers' defense kept the Mavericks (45-9) scoreless until the bottom of the fourth, when they capitalized on their team .385 batting average with a solo home run followed by a three-run shot to give them the lead, 4-2.
The No. 2-seeded Colorado Mesa tallied runs again in the sixth and eighth inning, scoring one run in each.
No. 5-seed St. Mary's (37-16) showed fight in the ninth with a leadoff single from
Billy Richard (Sr., Schertz, Texas) followed by a walk from
Nathan Humpal (Jr., Corpus Christi, Texas). Garcia put Richard on third with a fielder's choice but the baseball time clock was up with the Mavericks ahead.
“I think we have to give a lot of credit to their pitcher, he did a good job,” said head coach
Charlie Migl of the Rattlers' one inning of scoring. “Defensively, we hit the ball really hard three or four times and they made really good plays in the outfield. He (the Mavericks' pitcher) settled down and with their defense making the plays we weren't able to get it done.”
The Rattlers scattered eight hits throughout the contest with Garcia as the hottest, going 3 for 5 at the plate. Garcia also scored one run and recorded one stolen base. Richard (Sr., Schertz, Texas) totaled a pair of hits and Bates led with two RBIs.
Solis went the complete eight-inning game with three strikeouts, dropping to 8-2 on the season.
The Rattlers will need short memory, as the tournament takes no break and every game for St. Mary's is now all-or-nothing in the double-elimination format.
“Just get our rest tonight,” said Bates of the Rattlers' refocus for Friday's game. “We'll get a good night's rest and come out ready to play.”
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.
