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Box Score 2
SAN ANTONIO — One thing Rattler Baseball can almost always rely on is quality pitching.
Friday's doubleheader was no different as aces
Rene Solis (Sr., San Antonio) and
Matt McClain (Jr., San Antonio) each notched a complete game victory over Metro State, recording a five to one strikeout to walk ratio.
No. 15 St. Mary's trumped the Roadrunners 7-2 in Game One under Solis followed by a 4-1 victory in Game Two by McClain.
Both Solis and McClain were sweet on the strike zone on Valentine's Day at Dickson Stadium with Solis fanning eight and McClain 12 with just five walks between the two of them.
Solis' eight-strikeout showing over seven innings saw four hits in 26 batters faced with one earned run, improving his record to 2-0 on the season.
Solid hitting produced nine hits in the first game of the doubleheader that included four Rattler doubles.
Drake Roberts (Jr., Brenham, Texas) led with a pair of hits while
Joe Hermsen (Jr., Overland Park, Kan.) and
Keith Funk (RS-So., San Antonio) led with two RBIs apiece.
The Roadrunners (0-2) may have thought they caught a break in Game Two after picking up an early 1-0 lead in the second, but McClain dialed in soon enough, downing 12 over nine innings.
"My biggest thing is to stay focused," said McClain of breezing past an early deficit. "You just say focused and throw strikes-that's how I think. I'm lucky that I have a defense back there that I can trust."
McClain's 12 strikeouts saw a Roadrunner go down on strikes in seven of the lefty's nine innings, with five innings seeing two strikeouts.
McClain nearly topped his best Friday as his strikeout count peaked last season with a career-best 14 against McMurry. The junior currently leads the pitching staff in K's with 25 in 22 innings pitched, improving to 2-1 in Friday's win.
Game Two again saw four doubles from the Rattlers in the eight-hit victory with
Mario Maldonado (Jr., Laredo, Texas) and
Brooks Orton (Jr., Cedar City, Utah) each recording two. Orton went .500, going 2-2 with two RBIs and two runs scored.
The Rattlers improved to 7-1 on the season with Friday's wins, bumping to a six-game winning steak.
St. Mary's completes the four-game series against Metro State with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. Saturday at Dickson 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.
