Bonus Baseball Goes the Rattlers Way on Tuesday

SAN ANTONIO – In a back-and-forth contest that saw a little bit of everything, the St. Mary's Baseball team ended on top, 15-14 in 11 innings against Our Lady of the Lake on Tuesday night.
 
The Rattlers (15-15) scored 15 runs on 16 hits with seven OLLU errors, while the Saints (20-15) posted 14 runs on 14 hits with two errors by StMU. The two teams combined to leave 23 runners on base as each team walked nine batters and 10 batters were hit by a pitch.
 
St. Mary's used six pitchers in the game, with freshman Chase Bright (San Antonio) getting the first win of his collegiate career. Bright pitched the final three innings allowing only one hit, walking one and striking out one to improve to 1-1. He was the only one of the six to not allow a run.
 
All nine hitters in the starting lineup posted at least one hit for the Gold & Blue, led by seniors Clay Bradford (Atascocita, Texas) and Jake Mares (Fort Worth, Texas) with three each. Bradford also had a team-best four RBI. Freshman Jacob King (San Antonio) and seniors Brandon Broughton (Corpus Christi, Texas) and Rudy Solis (El Paso, Texas) each had two hits, while Broughton drew three walks and scored three times. Mares and senior Ryan McGowen (San Antonio) also scored three times each.
 
The Rattlers scored in seven of the 11 innings and turned three double plays on defense. It is the fifth time this season the team has collected multiple double plays and they've had 11 in the last six contests.
 
St. Mary's also had a season-best five stolen bases, led by two by McGowen and he almost had a third but was called out on an extremely close play at third base.
 
Mares led off the game with a single to centerfield and moved to second on a balk. King followed with a single up the middle to score Mares and hustled to third on a throwing error by the shortstop that hit him in the middle of the back as he tried to return to first. Bradford walked, stole second and scurried to third on an overthrow that allowed King to score. Broughton walked and Easton Parrish (La Vernia, Texas) singled to centerfield to plate Bradford. After a pitching change for the Saints, Solis walked and was erased on a fielder's choice off the bat of Devin Goins (San Antonio) that scored Broughton. Jacob Elizondo (San Antonio) hit a sacrifice fly to center for the fifth run of the inning.
 
OLLU got three runs back in the top of the second on two hits, a hit batsman and a walk for the 5-3 score.
 
Broughton and Parrish drew back-to-back walks to begin the third. Solis hit a sharp fly to right center, but because the runners had to hold to see if it was caught, he was held to a single. Solis did manage to gain second on a throw home that was not in time to get Broughton and Parrish held at third. Goins roped a shot to deep at shortstop to score Parrish and bring the score to 7-3.
 
The Saints added three more runs in the fourth, but once again the Rattlers had an immediate answer. King tripled to right center and scored on a single through the right side off the bat of Bradford. Broughton followed with a triple to straightaway center and Parrish hit a sacrifice fly to center for the 10-6 advantage.
 
An error on a pickoff move and a wild pitch gave the Saints their seventh run of the game in the fifth.
 
Elizondo singled up the middle, stole second and moved to third on an overthrow, but was thrown out in an attempted double steal with McGowen after McGowen was plunked. The hit by pitch for McGowen is the 51st of his career, moving him into sole possession of third place on the school's record chart. Mares walked and both stole the advancing bag on the first pitch of King's at bat. With two outs Bradford hit a shallow single to left to plate both speedy runners and have the scoreboard read 12-7.
 
OLLU scored two runs in both the sixth and seventh to cut the deficit to one, 12-11.
 
McGowen walked to begin things in the Rattlers half of the seventh and hustled to second on a wild pitch. Mares bounced a ball over hole on the left side of the infield to put runners on the corners and King laid down a successful safety squeeze with a sacrifice bunt down the first base line for the 13th run. 
 
Three runs in the top of the eighth gave the Saints their first lead of the night, 14-13.
 
McGowen was again hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the ninth. He promptly stole second and took third on another throwing error. A wild pitch tied the game at 14-14 and forced extra innings.
 
Bright retired the side in order, needing only nine pitches in the top of the tenth inning. In the 11th, Bright hit a batter and gave up one hit, but got out of the inning undamaged with a flyout.
 
McGowen beat out a throw from the shortstop of kick off the bottom half of the inning. Mares hit a groundball to second that was misplayed, allowing McGowen to beat the throw. In a double steal attempt, McGowen was called out at third. King reached on the second miscue of the inning by the Saints, putting runners at the corners and Bradford hit a bloop single down the left field line to win the game for the Rattlers, 15-14.
 
The Rattlers hit the road for a four-game series at Texas A&M Kingsville that begins on Friday at 6 p.m. The Javelinas are two spots ahead of the Rattlers in the standings in fifth with an 18-14 conference record.

There are still three days remaining in the Battle of the Saints Giving Challenge. Click here to help the Rattlers take down the Hilltoppers! The winner will be announced during the Hilltoppers and Rattlers game on Thursday, April. 6