This Week In Rattlers Baseball
St. Mary's at Lubbock Christian
February 20-22 // Games 11-14 // Lubbock // Hays Field
Broadcast: FloCollegeÂ
Lubbock Christian Chaparrals
Record   4-6
Ranking   NR
Head Coach   Nathan Blackwood
LCU Record   840-396 (23rd Year)
Career Record   Same
St. Mary's Rattlers
Record   9-1
Ranking   NR
Head Coach   Frank Kellner
StMU Record   58-55 (3rd Year)
Career Record   Same
By The Numbers
23 Junior Gabe Cook ranks 23rd among all active Division II players in career ERA at 3.68. This season, Cook is 1-0 with three saves and a 2.79 ERA, striking out six in 9.2 innings, and opponents are hitting just .147 against him.
105 St. Mary's has been hit by a pitch 24 times and drawn 81 walks through 10 games for 105 free bases. The Rattlers rank fifth in the nation in base on balls and 19th in hit by pitch.
116 The Rattlers have scored 116 runs this season, the most of any team in the Lone Star Conference and 13th most in the nation. Six times in 10 games this year the Rattlers have posted 10 or more runs in a contest.
Week Four: After back-to-back weeks playing at home, the St. Mary's Baseball team heads out on the road to play a four-game set at Lubbock Christian. The Chaps are 4-6 and split the four games with Oklahoma Christian last week. They took two of three from Sul Ross the week prior.
Fast Start: The 2026 Rattlers are only the third baseball team in school history to start a season 9-1, joining the 1947 and 2008 clubs. The 2001 team that won the national championship started its season 8-2.
Whatever It Takes: St. Mary's went 3-1 in the series against UT Dallas despite being outhit in three of the four games, and the two teams were tied in hits in the other. The Rattlers took advantage of free bases, getting walked 28 times and were hit by a pitch three times.
Jumping Out Early: All 28 runs scored by the Rattlers in the four games against UT Dallas were done in the first six innings, with seven runs each being plated in the second and sixth frames. StMU also did not score any in the third inning, while UT Dallas did not score in the second or eighth innings.
Getting On Base: Senior Jacob King has been on base in all 10 games this season, and has a reached base safely streak of 15 straight dating back to last season. King is hitting .359 with a .500 on base percentage and .615 slugging percentage. He is also tied for the team lead with four stolen bases.
League Leaders: St. Mary's leads the Lone Star Conference statistics in walks drawn (81), home runs (16), on-base percentage (.464), runs scored (116), sacrifice bunts (8), scoring (11.6), triple plays (1) and W/L Pct. (.900). The team is also second in the LSC in slugging percentage (.513), and strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.17). All of those stats also rank in the top 36 nationally.
Cooking With Gas: Junior left-hander Gabe Cook is tied for second in the nation with three saves, one off the lead of four by Micky Sheetz from West Florida. He is 1/3 of an inning shy of qualifying for the remainder of the LSC and NCAA pitching statistics.
Brooks Knows Ball: One week after earning both Lone Star and NCBWA South Central Region Hitter of the Week honors, senior 1B/RF Garrett Brooks tied the school single game record for walks in a game with four. Brooks becomes the 13th Rattler in school history to be walked four times, joining Dillon Lopez on the active list, as he drew four base on balls in the LSC Tournament against St. Edward's last season. (This headline is a tribute to entrepreneur and consultant Brookeknowsball. Find her on Instagram and TikTok for stories on MLB past and present.)
What An Honor: 1B/RF Garrett Brooks was named both the Lone Star Conference and NCBWA South Central Region Hitter of the Week in week one. Brooks hit .444 for the three-game series at Sul Ross State, going 8-for-18 at the plate with four home runs, scoring eight times and collecting 12 RBIs. The senior also walked once and had 13 chances in the field without making an error. It is his second weekly award for both and the first since Feb. 2024.
Batting Around: In the third inning of game three at Sul Ross State, the Rattlers exploded for 14 runs on 12 hits. Shockingly, the 14 runs in one inning is not a school record as the 2007 team put up 15 runs in the second inning at Oklahoma Panhandle State on March 2 in a 39-8 victory.
Triple Play: St. Mary's is one of two teams in the nation to have turned a triple play this season. In the eighth inning of game two and runners on first and second base, Raithen Malone snagged a line drive, threw to Blake Allen at second, and he tossed the ball to Garrett Brooks at first, catching both runners off the bags.
Tie Goes to the Runner: In addition to getting plunked six times, Ashton Beaird also tied the school record for stolen bases in a game, swiping three in the second game at Sul Ross State. He becomes the 10th different Rattler to steal three bases, and the first since Tristan Moreno did so last season. Beaird has four stolen bases this season, tying Jacob King for the team lead.
Regionally Ranked: The Rattlers remained 6th in the NCBWA South Central Region poll. The Rattlers received 49 points, while UT Tyler leads the region with 78 points. Colorado Mesa is second, while MSU Denver is third.Â
They're Smart Too: The LSC recently released the Commissioner's Honor Roll for the fall semester, and 22 baseball student-athletes were honored, including Daniel Vogt who posted a perfect 4.00 GPA in the fall semester. The other players who were a 3.30 or better were Ryan Alaniz, Blake Allen, Chase Bright, Garrett Brooks, Braeden Brown, Miguel Bustamante, Kieffer Doxey, Brandon Ermis, Kaleb Gauna, Rob Gonzalez, Matthew Janecek, Jacob King, Dillon Lopez, Derek Maples, Matt Mendez, Edward Mendoza, Christian Molinar, Tristan Moreno, Jimmy Mowles, Brant Stringer, and Brandon Vasquez.
Going Bananas: Recent graduate Easton Parrish was drafted in the seventh round of the inaugural BBCL draft by the Savannah Bananas. Parrish will wear No. 17 with the Bananas, the same number both he and his brother, Colton, wore with the Rattlers.Â
