Baseball Hands UAFS First Loss of Season in Saturday Split

FORT SMITH, Ark. — The St. Mary's University Baseball team handed UAFS its first loss of the season in the second game of the doubleheader, earning a split with the Lions on Saturday. UAFS won game one, 10-3, before the Rattlers bounced back for the 6-2 win in the nightcap.
 
The two teams will conclude the four-game series on Sunday, Feb. 18. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m. at Crowder Field.
 
GAME ONE RECAP
The Lions (6-1, 6-1 Lone Star Conference) jumped out to a 3-0 lead before St. Mary's (5-7, 4-7 Lone Star) broke onto the scoreboard with two runs in the fifth inning.
 
Senior catcher Devin Goins (San Antonio) started the inning with a single between the shortstop and third baseman. Senior Rudy Solis (El Paso, Texas) and junior Hogan Heller (San Antonio) each drove solid singles to centerfield, with Heller driving in Goins. Senior Trey Guajardo (San Juan, Texas) hit a sacrifice fly to center to pull the Rattlers within one, 3-2.
 
The Lions immediately got the two runs back in the bottom half of the fifth to push the lead back to three, 5-2.
 
With two outs in the sixth, Goins singled down the right field line, moved to second on a single to center by Solis and scored on an error by the third baseman off the bat of Heller. UAFS opened up a big lead with five runs in the bottom of the inning for the 10-3 final score.
 
The Rattlers scored their three runs on seven hits with one UAFS miscue, while the Lions scored 10 runs on 11 hits with two Rattler errors.
 
Senior Matt Bundy (Whitehouse, Texas) pitched four innings in the loss (1-1). He allowed three earned runs on five hits with three walks and five strikeouts. Junior Carlos Flores Jr. (San Antonio) had a rough outing, surrendering five runs on six hits with two walks and a strikeout in 1 1/3 innings. Freshman Matthew Janecek (Houston) retired both batters he faced in the sixth.
 
GAME TWO RECAP
Sophomore Garrett Brooks (Spring Branch, Texas) once again came up with the big hit when needed, blasting a three-run home run in the top of the seventh inning as the Rattlers completed the comeback, winning 6-2.
 
Solis was hit to start off the seventh with the Rattlers trailing 2-1. Senior Easton Parrish (La Vernia, Texas) used a sacrifice bunt to move Solis up 90 feet. Heller and junior Luis Aguilar (Alice, Texas) drew back-to-back walks and junior Jacob Elizondo (San Antonio) drove in a pair with a single to right field. He promptly stole second base, which proved unnecessary as Brooks left the yard on the very next pitch just inside the foul pole in right field for three runs and the 6-2 final tally.
 
Aguilar scored the game's first run, walking to start things off in the first, stealing second and moving to third on a wild pitch. He scored on a two-out single to right by freshman Dillon Lopez (San Antonio). UAFS scored two in the bottom of the first and the score remained 2-1 until the fireworks in the seventh by the Rattlers.
 
Sophomore Kaleb Gauna (Hondo, Texas) had a stellar outing in a no decision. He gave up two runs on two hits with two walks and struck out a career-high eight batters, bettering his previous total of five from two games last season.
 
Senior Karlo Kalifa (Round Rock, Texas) moved to 1-1 with the win as he retired all three batters he faced in the sixth with a strikeout. Fellow senior Andrew Girod (San Antonio) also retired three straight in the seventh, fanning two, to preserve the victory in a non-save situation.