Greer and Goins Shine in Baseball's Loss to Javelinas

SAN ANTONIO — Senior Devin Goins was 3-for-3 at the plate for the St. Mary's University Baseball team on Saturday, but the rest of the lineup only managed two hits as Texas A&M Kingsville worked a series split with the Rattlers, winning 7-3.
 
Freshman pitcher Brennan Greer (San Antonio) seemed to get better as the game went along. He struck out a career-high seven batters – including all three in his final inning of work in the sixth. He allowed only two runs on seven hits and walked a pair in a no decision. Sophomore Brody Ticer (San Antonio) fell to 1-1 on the year after giving up one run on two hits in the seventh inning.
 
Senior Brett Brown (Sinton, Texas), junior Carlos Flores Jr. (San Antonio), senior Matt Bundy (Whitehouse, Texas) and freshman Miguel Bustamante (Helotes, Texas) all pitched in relief. Bustamante faced three batters and struck out two in getting the Rattlers (14-20) out of a jam in the ninth.
 
Each team scored a single run in the third and fifth innings, but the Rattlers had no answer in the seventh for the Javelinas (23-15) lone run. TAMUK added four in the ninth and the Rattlers were only able to plate one as their comeback fell short.
 
Unlike the rest of the series, where the Rattlers did a tremendous job of hitting with two outs, on Saturday they were 0-for-8. Four of the leadoff batters reached base, doing so from the third to the sixth innings.
 
The Rattlers face a rival, St. Edward's, in the next series. The Hilltoppers took three of four from Oklahoma Christian in Oklahoma City and are now 16-17 on the year. Game one is slated for Friday at 2 p.m.