OKLAHOMA CITY – Playing over seven hours of baseball, the St. Mary's baseball team swept a double header at Oklahoma Christian on Friday, winning 18-7 and 6-5 in 12 innings.
Several school records were tied or broken during the twinbill, as in the first game senior
Mitchell Caskey (Houston) went 6-for-6 at the plate to tie the St. Mary's single game record for hits in a game, while sophomore
Brandon Broughton (Corpus Christi, Texas) tied the mark with two sacrifice flies. In the second game, senior
Derek Mueller (Carrolton, Texas) knotted the record for stolen bases in a game with three.
The Rattlers (4-2, 2-1 Lone Star Conference) also improve to 7-2 all-time in games lasting 12 innings or longer after out-lasting the Eagles (1-2, 1-2 Lone Star) in the nightcap.
Senior
Zach De La Garza (San Antonio) won the first contest to move to 1-0 on the season, while junior
Collin Storms (Lewisville, Texas) earned a three-inning save. In game two, junior
Connor Schmidt (Devine, Texas) bounced back after getting the loss yesterday to earn the win, pitching the final 2.1 innings allowing only one hit with four strikeouts. Schmidt is now 2-1 in 2021.
Junior
Jake Mares (Fort Worth) was 5-for-7 on the day, with five runs scored, while Caskey went 6-for-10 with two walks and seven RBI. The Rattlers were 6-for-6 in stolen bases and allowed only one swiped bag in the 20 innings.
St. Mary's will take a two-week break in the season, returning to action on Feb. 19 when they host Lubbock Christian for three games at Dickson Stadium. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 4 p.m.
Game One Recap
St. Mary's exploded for 18 runs on 21 hits and held the Eagles to seven runs on 10 hits. Both teams committed three errors and all three for the Rattlers happened in the first two frames.
The 21 hits for the Rattlers are the most for the team since a school-record 30 against Colorado State-Pueblo on May 17, 2013. The 18 runs are also the highest total since April 2, 2019 when they scored 25 in a win over Our Lady of the Lake. All nine starting hitters recorded at least one hit with the top four each having a multi-hit contest.
Caskey tied the school record with six hits, going 6-for-6 with two doubles and seven RBIs, which also knots for sixth on the StMU lists. Broughton, in his first collegiate game with the Rattlers, tied the school record with two sacrifice flies. He is the seventh player in school history to have two in one game – and the first since 2017.
De La Garza got the win on the hill, pitching five innings, allowing five earned runs on seven hits. He walked three and struck out five before giving way to Storms. Storms earned the three-inning save, giving up one run on three hits with a walk and a strikeout.
The Rattlers didn't waste any time getting to starter Ty Dudley for OC. Mueller led off with a double down the left field line that went all the way to the fence. Mares followed with a shot to deep short and he beat the throw to first. Senior
Fernando Zubia (El Paso, Texas) tripled over the centerfielder's head for a pair of RBIs and Caskey doubled up the middle for the early 3-0 lead.
The defense committed two errors in the bottom of the first, but De La Garza picked a runner off first and got the other two to fly out to
Shawn Tober (San Antonio) in right field.
The bats stayed hot for the Blue & Gold as Tober took the first pitch of the second frame back up the middle. With two outs, Mares singled to right center and Zubia singled past a diving first baseman to score Tober. Caskey singled back up the middle to plate Mares for the 5-0 lead and knocked Dudley out of the game.
Oklahoma Christian broke onto the scoreboard with one run on one hit, an error and a wild pitch in the bottom of the second.
The Rattlers immediately got the run back as sophomore
Brian Juarez (Corpus Christi, Texas) walked to start the inning, moved to second on a ground out by Tober and scored on a single to left by Mueller to make the score 6-1. A solo home run to lead off the third for the Eagles made the score 6-2, but De La Garza retired the next three he faced to limit the damage.
Mauro Bustamante (Helotes, Texas) blooped a single over the short stop's head to begin the fifth, Juarez singled to center and Tober moved the pair up 90 feet each with a sacrifice bunt. Ryann McGowen (San Antonio) grounded out to short to score Bustamante to push the lead back to five, 7-2.
De La Garza retired seven straight from the bottom of third through the fifth – including striking out the side in the fourth -- until giving up a single with one out in the fifth inning.
Mares again legged out an infield single, this time to start the sixth. With one out, Caskey singled to left and Broughton hit a sacrifice fly to left. Bustamante tripled to right center to extend the lead to 9-2.
Oklahoma Christian plated four in the bottom of the sixth to cut into the lead, 9-6.
Tober was plunked to lead off the seventh, McGowen attempted to bunt him to second, but a fielding error put the Rattlers at second and third. With two outs, Zubia was intentionally walked to load the bases and Caskey blasted a double to right center to clear the bags. Broughton followed with his first collegiate home run to give the Rattlers a 14-6 advantage.
Storms retired the side in order in the bottom of the seventh to get his hitters back in the box.
McGowen singled back to the pitcher at the start of the eighth. With one out, Mares singled to center, followed by a Zubia walk to load the bases. Caskey singled to right to plate two and Broughton hit his second sacrifice fly to center for the 18
th Rattler run. The Eagles got one back in the bottom for the 18-7 final.
Game Two Recap
In a back-and-forth affair, the Rattlers had the final say, winning 6-5 in 12 innings to tie for the seventh-longest game in school history.
Senior
Mason Minister (San Antonio) had a solid outing in a no decision, giving up four runs on eight hits, walking two and fanning six in seven innings. Senior
Dylan Bells (Regina, Sasketchewan) allowed just one run on two hits over the next 2.2 frames, walking two and striking out four. Schmidt finished the contest, surrendering just one hit and striking out four in 2.1 innings.
Mueller tied the school record with three stolen bases. Seven different Rattlers have done so 10 times and the last to accomplish the feat was Mares against Our Lady of the Lake on March 26, 2019.
Mueller was the only Rattler to have a multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 with two walks and a run scored. Five others each had one base knock. The Eagles scored their five runs on 10 hits and each team had three errors.
Three walks, a single and a fielder's choice led to the Rattlers scoring two to open up the nightcap. The Eagles scored one in the first and tied it up with another run in the third.
The Rattlers regained the lead in the top of the fifth. Taylor walked and stole second. Caskey walked and knocked the starter out of the game. With two outs, Bustamante singled to left to score Taylor for the 3-2 advantage.
The Eagles took their first lead of the day with two runs in the bottom of the seventh on three hits.
Senior
Johnny Hernandez (El Paso), pinch hitting in the top of the ninth, doubled to center, moved to third on a ground out by Caskey and scored on a balk to tie the score at 4-4.
In the top of the 10
th, Bustamante walked and moved to second on a wild pitch. With one out,
Mac Papini (San Antonio), pinch hitting, singled to center to score the go-ahead run. Â The Eagles tied the score in the bottom of the inning with a single, two walks and a hit batter.
Bustamante reached via an error by the third baseman to kick off the 12
th and he was bunted to second by Juarez. With two outs, McGowen singled to short stop and an error allowed Bustamante to hustle home.
Schmidt struck out the final two batters for the 6-5 victory.
INDIVIDUAL PLAYER & TEAM NOTES
- Senior Mitchell Caskey went 6-for-6 at the plate in the first game to tie the St. Mary's single game record for hits in a game, knotting Ray Camacho (March 2, 2007 at Oklahoma Panhandle State).
- Sophomore Brandon Broughton tied the mark with two sacrifice flies. He is the seventh Rattler to have a pair in a game.
- Â In the second game, senior Derek Mueller knotted the record for stolen bases in a game with three. The feat has been accomplished 10 times by seven different players, including Jake Mares, who did so on March 26, 2019 against Our Lady of the Lake.
- The six stolen bases in game two tie for the fourth-most in a contest and it is the seventh time it's happened. The record is nine swipes against Concordia on April 2, 1999.
- The Rattlers hit .329 over the doubleheader (24-for-85) and held the Eagles to just .241 (20-for-83).
- The 21 hits for the Rattlers in the first game are the most for the team since a school-record 30 against Colorado State-Pueblo on May 17, 2013. The 18 runs are also the highest total since April 2, 2019 when they scored 25 in a win over Our Lady of the Lake.
