Juarez Helps Lift Baseball To Opening Game Victory

SAN ANGELO – After the offensive fireworks both teams put up in the first weekend of the Lone Star Conference Tournament, many fans expected big numbers in the opening game of bracket play for St. Mary's Baseball, however they were treated to a great defensive battle as the Rattlers survived a late comeback scare from rival St. Edward's, winning 5-3.

The Rattlers' (25-18) defense turned three double plays on the afternoon and played a clean game, while the Hilltoppers (17-22) also did not commit any errors.  Both teams left seven runners on base and SEU out-hit the Rattlers 10-to-9.

"I'll tell you what, that's a lot going on out there for an old guy," joked Head Coach Charlie Migl with the media after the game. "I'm really proud of the guys, that was a total team effort – our defense did great and Brian (Juarez) went off hitting. Those middle guys, Johnny (Hernandez) and Jake (Mares) have been doing that all year. They're really comfortable with each other and it shows with those double plays."

St. Mary's moves to the winners bracket and will face the winner of the Lubbock Christian-Angelo State game at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, May 21.

Brian Juarez, a junior from Corpus Christi, Texas was 4-for-4 and three of his four hits were for extra bases with a pair of doubles and a home run. He drove in three of the team's five runs. Senior Mitchell Caskey (Houston) was 2-for-3 with a double.

"I came up to the plate with the mind set to get a hit and help the team out and I found the pitch I wanted to hit and gave us the lead," Juarez said.

Senior Dylan Bells (Regina, Saskatchewan) was solid on the hill, allowing two runs on nine hits. He didn't walk a single batter and struck out two to improve to 8-1 on the year. Junior Collin Storms (Lewisville, Texas) earned his third save, surrendering one run on one hit with two walks and a strikeout."

"Dylan was good," Migl stated. "And Collin, he struggled a bit, but when he had to make pitches he did. You want these guys, especially your starters, to go out there and get as many as innings as they can. It's hot out there on the turf and Dylan did a good job. I'm really proud of him."

"He (Bells) was covering all sides of the plate," continued Juarez. "It's a huge first game for us. Me and Dylan said 'let's get after it and have fun' and he went out there and did what we needed him to do."

Senior Johnny Hernandez (El Paso, Texas) recorded nine defensive assists on the day, knotting the St. Mary's single game record with Derek Hamilton from a game against Texas A&M International on May 2, 2015. 

With one out in the first, Jake Mares (Fort Worth, Texas) drew a walk and moved to third on a successful hit-and-run by senior Fernando Zubia (El Paso, Texas) to put runners on the corners. A high chopper off the bat of Brandon Broughton (Corpus Christi) towards short scored the first run of the game. Caskey grounded into a fielder's choice, erasing Broughton but placing runners at the corners again. A wild pitch allowed both to advance a bag for the 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the fourth, Caskey singled through the right side, was sacrificed to second by Hernandez and scored on a double to left center by Juarez to extend the advantage to 3-0.

With one out in the bottom of the sixth, Caskey doubled down the left field line, and Logan Taylor (Adkins, Texas) pinch ran for him after he slid awkwardly into second. Taylor moved to third on a fly out by Hernandez and scored on a two-run blast over the left field fence by Juarez to stretch the lead to 5-0.

St. Edward's broke onto the scoreboard with a solo home run in the seventh by Jake Hahn for the 5-1 tally.

Senior Derek Mueller (Carrolton, Texas) hit a ground rule double over the short fence in left with one out in the seventh to extend his hitting streak to 19-straight and his reached-base streak to 35 games, but was stranded on the base paths.

The Hilltoppers tried for the comeback, scoring one run each in the eighth and the ninth, but Storms worked out of the bases loaded jam, getting a ground ball back to the bump, where he underhanded it to Broughton to secure the 5-3 victory.

"We were really worried," Migl concluded. "They can really swing the bat, and you saw what they did against West Texas and today went our way."