KINGSVILLE, Texas — The St. Mary's University baseball team outhit Texas A&M-Kingsville in both games of a doubleheader, but the Javelinas won the first game in a split on Saturday at Nolan Ryan Field.
The host Javelinas won game one, 5-1, before the Rattlers responded with a 6-3 win in the nightcap to move to 15-10 on the season.
The teams conclude the four-game series on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Rattlers are looking to earn a series split.
GAME ONE RECAP
The Rattlers outhit the Javelinas, 8-to-7 in game one, but for the second-straight contest, left a lot of runners on base, stranding 10 in the seven innings.
Jacob King (San Antonio) was 2-for-4 at the plate, and the other six hits were spread among six hitters.
Garrett Brooks (Spring Branch, Texas) hit a double in his only hit, the only extra-base knock for the Rattlers.
Kaleb Gauna (Hondo, Texas) dropped to 2-3 on the year after giving up four earned runs on seven hits with two walks and two strikeouts. In only his second appearance of the year, freshman
Derek Maples faced six batters without allowing a hit. He struck out three and walked one, needing only 30 pitches for the 1 2/3 innings.
GAME TWO RECAP
Aggressive base running early in the game helped lift the Rattlers to the 6-3 victory. With runners on first and second,
Christian Keller (New Braunfels, Texas) singled through the left side of the infield and
Jaxon Daigre (Pinehurst, Texas) came around to score. The throw home was cut, and Brooks looked to be in trouble.
He scampered back to second in time, and the Javelinas tried to get Keller moving back to first. Brooks stood up and took off for third, forcing a throw from the first baseman, but the ball popped out of the third baseman's glove and the runners were on second and third when the play ended.
Tristan Moreno (Seguin, Texas) hit a high-chopper up the middle of the infield, beating the throw to first for a single. The ball was thrown wide of first, allowing Keller to score from third for two more runs and the 3-0 lead.
The Javelinas scored single runs in the fourth and fifth inning and the Rattlers answered with another three-run frame in the sixth. Brooks led off with a walk, was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Keller and hustled to third on a bunt single on the third-base side of the mound off the bat of Moreno to put runners on the corners.
Brendan Concannon (Flower Mound, Texas) laced a double past a diving third baseman inside the line to clear the bases. After the Javelinas went to the bullpen, Heller singled up the middle with two outs for the 6-2 advantage. TAMUK added one in the seventh for the final score.
Moreno and Heller both finished the game 2-for-3 at the plate, while Concannon drove in a pair and scored once, and Brooks scored twice after going 1-for-2 with a pair of walks.
Senior
Javier De Alejandro (San Antonio) worked the win on the hill to improve to 3-1. He gave up two runs on three hits, walking five but striking out six.
Brandon Vasquez (Round Rock, Texas) pitched the final two innings, allowing only one run on four hits with three strikeouts.
