Crooked Innings Prevent Sweep for Baseball

AUSTIN, Texas – In a chaotic back-and-forth contest, the St. Mary's Baseball Team ended up on the short end of the scoreboard in the series finale at St. Edward's, 14-9.
 
The Rattlers (10-16, 8-16 Lone Star Conference) used the long ball early to build a 6-2 lead, but a pair of crooked innings for the Hilltoppers (18-13, 18-13 Lone Star) saved them from being swept in the series.
 
The Hilltoppers took a 7-6 lead after five frames, but the Rattlers regained the edge with one in the sixth and two in the seventh. St. Edward's scored seven in the seventh – though four were unearned – for the 14-9 final.
 
Sophomore Clay Bradford (Atoscocita, Texas), junior Brandon Broughton (Corpus Christi, Texas) and sophomore Easton Parrish (La Vernia, Texas) all had balls that left the yard for their lone hits of the day.
 
Senior Jake Mares (Fort Worth, Texas) continued to be a threat at the top of the Rattlers order, going 3-for-6 with two runs scored and an RBI. Broughton also drew three walks as he was on base four times in five plate apperances.
 
Senior Dylan Bells (Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada) pitched the first four innings for the Gold & Blue, allowing three earned runs on three hits with six walks and four strikeouts. Sophomore Karlo Kalifa (Round Rock, Texas) took the loss to move to 1-2 on the season after allowing three earned runs on seven hits with two strikeouts in two innings. Three other pitchers saw action on the day.
 
St. Mary's turns its attention to West Texas A&M for a four-game series beginning on Friday at 6 p.m.