SAN ANTONIO — Despite a three-hour and four-minute rain delay on Saturday afternoon, the St. Mary's University Baseball team was able to even the series against UT Dallas at 1-1 with a 6-4 victory at Dickson Stadium.
The Rattlers (7-1) led 1-0 when lightning hit in the area, and then the skies opened, forcing fans and teams alike to find shelter for the three hours. The teams returned to soggy conditions but fought tough.
Due to the delay, game two, scheduled for Saturday, will now be played on Sunday at noon. The fourth and final game of the series, which will be a nine-inning contest, will begin 30 minutes after the seven-inning game.
The Rattlers jumped onto the scoreboard early, plating one in the first inning. Junior
Ashton Beaird (San Antonio) doubled down the left field line, and he moved to third on a groundout by
Dillon Lopez (San Antonio).
Garrett Brooks (Spring Branch, Texas) hit a sacrifice fly to right field for the 1-0 lead.
With one out in the top of the second, the rains halted play for over three hours. Junior
Matthew Janecek (Houston) entered in relief of starter
Kaleb Gauna (Hondo, Texas), and got two quick outs to allow the offense to get back to work, and they responded with two runs.
Ryan Alaniz (San Antonio) drew a four-pitch walk, and senior
Matt Gauna (San Antonio) hit a home run to right for the 3-0 advantage.
The Comets (6-2) answered with two runs on one hit, one error and two walks for the 3-2 tally. In the sixth inning, UTD took the 4-3 lead with two runs on three hits.
This time, it was the Rattlers who immediately answered, as they scored three in the bottom of the sixth.
Matt Gauna singled, and freshman
Jimmy Mowles (Dallas) made his first appearance as a pinch runner. A wild pitch moved Mowles up 90 feet and he scored on a single to third off the bat of
Ethan Hughes (League City, Texas). Freshman
Garrett Ticer (San Antonio) entered to run for Hughes and he was bunted to second by
Matt Mendez (Natalia, Texas). After a pitching change,
Raithen Malone (Mont Belvieu, Texas) singled to left, scoring Ticer. Beaird was hit by a pitch, forcing the Comets to go to the bullpen again. A wild pitch advanced everyone up a base, and Lopez loaded the bases with a walk. Brooks hit his second sacrifice fly of the night, scoring Malone for the 6-4 final score.
Gauna, Hughes and Malone each recorded two hits, accounting for six of the team's seven hits, while Brooks and M. Gauna each drove in two.
Christian Molinar (San Antonio) picked up the win, while
Gabe Cook (San Antonio) earned his third save of the season.
Kaleb Gauna pitched 1 1/3 inning in the start, walking one, striking out one and giving up one hit. Janecek threw 4 1/3 innings in relief, giving up four runs on five hits with two walks and six strikeouts. Molinar pitched in the sixth and seventh frames, surrendering one hit with one walk and one strikeout, and Cook needed only three pitches to get the final out for the save.
