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Scoreboard

Donnie Perez
Antonio Morano Photography
File Photo
2
Newman NU 22-28
14
Winner St. Mary's STMU 34-16
Newman NU
22-28
2
Final
14
St. Mary's STMU
34-16
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Newman NU 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 4 1
St. Mary's STMU 1 0 0 0 11 2 X 14 13 2

W: Rodriguez, Octavio (3-2) L: Blake Thunberg (1-1)

Game Recap: Baseball | | RattlerAthletics.com

Rattlers come alive in 5th to win 1st Heartland title since 2015

By Chad Peters | St. Mary's Athletics Communications

SAN ANTONIO — Down a run midway through Sunday's regular-season finale, the Rattler bats started swinging for much more than just a single victory against Newman.
 
They were trying to connect on a conference title.
 
Eyeing their first Heartland Conference crown since 2015, St. Mary's went to work in the fifth inning, delivering 11 runs in the frame to mount a 14-2 comeback over the Jets that secured the conference championship after the Rattlers had entered the fifth trailing 2-1. 
 
The title, which the Rattlers will share with St. Edward's, marks St. Mary's sixth Heartland title in the last nine seasons.
 
"Everybody's excited," longtime head coach Charlie Migl said afterward. "With so many new guys, and the old guys that we had, getting back to the conference tournament was a goal that we had. Newman brought in a really nice team. They gave us everything they had."
 
But the Rattlers had an answer.
 
Jacob Aguilar led the offensive attack with a career day, going 5 for 5 with three RBIs and two runs scored at Dickson Stadium. Aguilar's five hits marked his highest total in a single game as a Rattler.
 
Earlier in the day, the Rattlers won a nail-biter 4-3, paving the way for the Rattlers to remain in contention for the Heartland title.
 
In Game 2, the decisive fifth inning ensured St. Mary's (34-16, 18-10 in Heartland Conference) won just that. The 11-inning frame featured seven hits and 17 Rattler at-bats, as all but one Rattler came to the plate twice.
 
Aguilar drove in three runs in the inning over two at-bats, while Mario Vela, Nick Galaviz and Angel Vega also drove in two apiece in the inning. Bryce Brandl added an RBI, as did Donnie Perez, Patrick Fennell and Andrew Perez.
 
Add it all up, and it proved to be the formula the Rattlers needed for the 3-1 series victory that would send them into the Heartland Conference Championship tournament on a roll.
 
The Rattlers, who will enter the tournament as the No. 2 seed, also received superb pitching in the game from Octavio Rodriguez. Rodriguez went the distance, striking out eight while scattering four hits. He yielded one earned run.
 
The wild part about Sunday's action was that the weekend began with any number of scenarios in play due to the log jam atop the league standings, as the Rattlers could have finished anywhere from conference champion to out of the tournament entirely.
 
"That's how crazy that was," Migl said of the conference standings. "That becomes a pressure situation. You've really got to hang in there and try to take advantage of everything to win those games. We haven't had an ending like that (in the conference race) in quite a while."

With the victory, St. Mary's improved to 22-5 at home this season. 
 
St. Mary's will take on No. 3 seed Lubbock Christian at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at The Depot at Cleburne Station in Cleburne, Texas.
 
After what his team showed this weekend, Migl sounded excited about the team he will be taking to the tournament.
 
"We have a good bunch of guys," he said. "I know they want to win. There are some little things we have to do better, and if we are able to do that we will give ourselves an opportunity."
 
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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), 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 70 percent of its athletes named to conference, regional and/or national honor rolls this past year. To learn more about St. Mary's, visit www.rattlerathletics.com.
     
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