Baseball Earns Split With Fourth-Ranked Buffs

SAN ANTONIO — The St. Mary's University Baseball team split a doubleheader with fourth-ranked West Texas A&M on Saturday, winning game one 7-2 before dropping the nightcap 8-3.
 
In game one, the Rattlers (18-23) scored five runs in the first two innings and added another pair in the fourth to win their second-straight game over the Buffaloes (30-11).
 
Senior Jacob Elizondo (San Antonio) was 2-for-4 out of the leadoff spot, scoring three of the team's seven runs with an RBI, while senior RJ Galvan (San Antonio) hit his sixth home run of the season in the bottom of the first for the early 2-0 lead.
 
Freshman Braeden Brown (Sinton, Texas) won his second consecutive outing and moved to 2-2 on the year after allowing two runs on five hits with three walks and a strikeout. Senior Matt Bundy (Whitehouse, Texas) worked two innings in scoreless relief, giving up one hit and one walk to close out the game.
 
The script flipped for game two as the Buffs scored the first four runs of the game and added four in the sixth. The Rattlers tried to mount a rally in the bottom of the seventh, scoring two, but a called strike three that upset the Rattlers fans ended the threat.
 
Sophomore Garrett Brooks (Spring Branch, Texas) and senior Jorge Cuevas (El Paso, Texas) each had two hits to pace the Rattlers.
 
Sophomore Kaleb Gauna (Hondo, Texas) allowed three earned runs on six hits with one walk and one strikeout through the first five innings. Junior Tom Symonds (Canberra, Australia) and senior Karlo Kalifa (Round Rock, Texas) worked in relief. Kalifa didn't allow any runs on three hits with a walk over the final 1 2/3 innings.
 
The two teams return to the diamond for the fourth and final game of the series on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Rattlers will go for the series win, while the Buffs will fight for a split.