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FORT SMITH, Ark. — No. 3 St. Mary's Baseball got the clutch hitting it needed to orchestrate a late comeback to sweep Arkansas-Fort Smith in Friday's doubleheader action.
But on Saturday, the Rattler bats weren't quite as fortunate.
Mario Maldonado headlined the Rattlers' offensive showing on Friday, leading St. Mary's to a 4-1 triumph and a 9-6, come-from-behind Heartland Conference victory.
Maldonado went 6 for 12 with six RBIs in the series, including a two-run insurance home run that followed
Keith Funk's go-ahead three-run bomb to cap off of the wild comeback in the 9-6 victory. St. Mary's trailed 5-0 in the fifth before mounting a comeback that saw it score twice in the sixth, twice more in the seventh and then add on five more runs in a monstrous eighth inning.
But St. Mary's couldn't recapture that magic Saturday, dropping a 4-3 nail-biter that saw the Rattlers strand the would-be-tying run,
Joe Hermsen, at third base as a Rattler struck out swinging to end the game.
However, St. Mary's (19-6, 7-2) wasn't all about offense in this series.
In the 4-1 victory, ace
Rene Solis threw a gem to improve to 5-1 on the season, striking out 12, scattering three hits, walking one and yielding no earned runs.
In Friday's nightcap, Rattler reliever
Rick Villa picked up his second victory of the season, pitching four quality innings that saw him yield no earned runs and a pair of unearned runs before giving way to
Adrian Garcia, who collected his third save of the season. Garcia pitched two scoreless innings in relief, yielding one hit and walking one. Garcia is rocking a perfect 0.00 ERA in just over 10 innings pitched this season.
On Saturday, missed opportunities plagued the Rattlers against UAFS (10-12). St. Mary's stranded
Drake Roberts at second base in the seventh, stranded
Brooks Orton at third in the eighth and then stranded Hermsen at third in the ninth.
St. Mary's remains in first place in the Heartland's race for the postseason, as rival St. Edward's was swept by Lubbock Christian to drop to 4-5 in league competition. Lubbock Christian is 11-1 in Heartland play but is ineligible for the regular-season championship or tournament berth due to being a provisional member.
The Rattlers will be back in action Wednesday, when they travel to Victoria, Texas to take on Houston-Victoria in non-conference action. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
