SAN ANTONIO — The St. Mary's University Baseball team scored five unanswered runs over the final four innings to win game one in the annual Battle of the Saints, 6-5 over No. 15 St. Edward's on Friday night.
The Hilltoppers (22-9, 21-8) scored three runs in the fourth inning and two in the sixth off a pair of home runs by Travis Chestnut to take a 5-1 lead, but the Rattlers (17-10, 15-10) plated two in the seventh, two in the ninth and one in the 10th for the walk-off victory.
Senior
Easton Parrish (La Vernia, Texas) hit a pair of solo home runs for the first two of the game, crushing one down the right field line in the fourth and leading off the seventh with a no-doubter off the blue monster in centerfield. With two outs in the same inning, junior
Raithen Malone (Mont Belvieu, Texas) hit his first home run for the Gold and Blue, taking the ball over the left field fence to make it a 5-3 contest.
In the bottom of the ninth with the same score, junior
Matt Gauna (San Antonio) delivered his fourth pinch-hit of the season, doubling up the middle to lead off. Junior
Adrian Losoya (San Antonio) pinch-ran for him. Parrish was hit by a pitch, and junior
Tristan Moreno (Seguin, Texas) came into run. With one out, senior
Trey Guajardo (San Juan, Texas) reached on a fielder's choice, erasing Moreno off the base paths. An errant throw by the Hilltoppers allowed Losoya to hustle home from third for the fourth run. Malone singled through the right side, advancing Guajardo to third base, and senior
Jacob Elizondo (San Antonio) singled to right field to knot the score at 5-5.
Senior
Carlos Flores Jr. (San Antonio) worked the 10th inning on the hill for the Rattlers, walking one and allowing a hit through the right side, but he made a good defensive stop to get the lead runner at third and forced a fly out to get the offense back to work.
Junior
Garrett Brooks (Spring Branch, Texas), who moved to first base from left field in the top half of the inning, took an 0-1 pitch past the outstretched glove of the shortstop into left. Senior
Jacob King (San Antonio) laid down a great bunt to move Brooks to second. Redshirt freshman
Brandon Ermis (San Antonio) reached on an error by the first baseman, and
Dillon Lopez (San Antonio) walked on four pitches to load the bases. Junior
Jaxon Daigre (Pinehurst, Texas) singled through the right side to score Brooks and get the win for the Rattlers.
Flores gets credit for the win and moves to 2-0 on the year. Sophomore
Gabe Cook (San Antonio) started, going five innings and tying his career-high with seven strikeouts for the third time this year. He allowed three runs on five hits and walked two. Senior
Cameron Hodges (San Antonio) pitched the next two frames, giving up two runs on two hits with a walk and two strikeouts. Junior
Matt Sandoval (Uvalde, Texas) retired the only batter he faced, and junior
Ryan Romine (San Antonio) was fantastic, striking out three in 1 2/3 innings without giving up a hit.
King, Parrish and Malone all had two hit days for StMU, while Parrish led the team with two RBIs.
Parker Tennill fell to 0-3 for the Hilltoppers. He worked the final 2 1/3 innings after Kobe Jaramillo worked the first seven, allowing three runs on six hits with one walk and eight strikeouts.
The two teams return to Dickson Stadium on Saturday for a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m.
