Box Score SAN ANTONIO — St. Mary's ace
Rene Solis was presumably scheduled for a customary, midweek day off for Tuesday's non-conference game against Tarleton State.
But the Rattler senior starting pitcher sent a message earlier in the day suggesting he — and the rest of the 15
th-ranked Rattlers — were ready for whatever it might take to be victorious.
"ALL HANDS ON DECK!!!" Solis tweeted hours before game time.
The Rattlers needed every hand they had in a wild, 8-7 walk-off victory over the Texans.
St. Mary's scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth, including the winning run on
Brooks Orton's walk-off single that brought in
Mario Maldonado with the bases loaded and one out, to stun Tarleton State at Dickson Stadium.
Starving for victory, St. Mary's (28-13) overcame six errors and 13 runners left on base to improve to 19-5 when playing in its beautiful, brand-new home stadium.
Living up to the promise he made in his tweet, Solis made his first relief appearance since his freshman season in 2011 to pitch 2/3 of an inning and pick up the victory to improve to 9-2 on the season.
Solis replaced
Garrett McKenzie, who pitched 3 1/3 innings without allowing a hit after relieving starter
Nathan Humpal, who had a hard-luck start with four errors committed behind him.
Orton's game-winning hit marked his only hit of the game, as the speedy right fielder went 1 for 5 with a walk.
Adrian Garcia,
Drake Roberts and
Mario Maldonado all recorded two-hit days for the Rattlers, who outhit Tarleton State (21-17) 12-7.
Maldonado and
Joe Hermsen led St. Mary's with two RBIs apiece.
The game was a topsy-turvy, mistake-filled affair, as the teams combined to commit nine errors on the day. St. Mary's trailed 1-0 early, but bounced back to take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first inning.
The Rattlers made it 4-2 following another two-run frame in the second, but began to come unraveled in the fourth.
They committed two errors on a single fourth-inning sequence that resulted in three runs scoring for the Texans. With runners at first and third, Tarleton State's Jake Klauck reached base on a hit and advanced to second on a throwing error from second to first base. One run crossed and another was rounding third base as the ball dribbled around the backstop, and the catcher made an attempt to throw home, where the pitcher was covering the plate. But the throw trickled into an unmanned spot in the infield, allowing Klauck — who started the entire sequence with his infield single — to score from second base.
But in the end, with all hands on deck, the Rattlers found a way.
Eyeing to improve their second-place standing in the Heartland Conference rankings, St. Mary's will resume conference play Friday, when they travel to Wichita, Kan., for a three-game series against Newman.
