LUBBOCK, Texas — St. Mary's University and Lubbock Christian University split a baseball doubleheader at Hays Field on Saturday. The Chaps won game one, 9-2, while the Rattlers bounced back late in game two to win, 10-9.
The Rattlers (11-2) hold a 2-1 advantage in the four-game series, which will conclude with a nine-inning contest beginning at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
GAME ONE RECAP
The Chaps (4-8) scored five runs in the first inning, recording four hits with one StMU error. The Rattlers broke onto the scoreboard with one run in the second inning. Senior
Jacob King (San Antonio) doubled down the left field line to kick off the inning and scored on a double by senior
Matt Gauna (San Antonio) with two outs.
LCU posted another crooked inning in the third, plating four runs on four hits and another Rattler miscue. The score remained 9-1 until the top of the seventh, when the Rattlers strung together three hits with junior
Dillon Lopez (San Antonio) driving in senior
Raithen Malone (Mont Belvieu, Texas), who reached on a single up the middle.
Junior
Ashton Beaird (San Antonio) reached base three times out of the leadoff spot, while Lopez was 2-for-4.
Senior
Kaleb Gauna (Hondo, Texas) took the loss on the hill in his first decision of the year. He gave up seven runs on five hits with three walks and a strikeout in two innings. Junior
Braeden Brown (Sinton, Texas) worked the next two innings, surrendering two runs on three hits with one walk and a pair of strikeouts. Senior
Brody Ticer (San Antonio) pitched the final two innings in his first appearance of the year. He allowed only one hit and fanned two.
GAME TWO RECAP
Lubbock Christian once again scored early and often, scoring two in the first, four in the second and three in the fourth to lead 9-2. Unlike the first game, the Rattlers were able to mount a rally, plating three in the fifth, four in the sixth and one in the seventh for the 10-9 victory.
Both teams recorded nine hits in the nightcap, with StMU committing one error and LCU two.
Both Beaird and freshman
Garrett Ticer (San Antonio) had multi-hit games, with a pair each. Both were 2-for-3 in the game, with Beaird scoring three times, hitting out of the two hole for the first time this year, and Ticer doing a great job of flipping the lineup out of the nine hole. Lopez drove in three runs, while King added two RBIs.
Sophomore
Derek Maples (San Antonio) improved to 2-0 on the year, pitching 4 1/3 innings of relief for junior
Matthew Janecek (Houston) who lasted 1 2/3 innings. Maples didn't allow an earned run (three total) on three hits with two walks and a career-high eight strikeouts. Senior
Edward Mendoza (Eagle Pass, Texas) collected his second save of the year, pitching a scoreless seventh inning, needing only 10 pitches to record the three outs.
In the first inning, Beaird doubled with one out, and moved to third on a groundout by Lopez. Senior
Garrett Brooks (Spring Branch, Texas) walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Both scored when King singled.
Trailing 9-2, StMU began the comeback in the fifth inning. Junior
Matt Mendez (Natalia, Texas) walked and went to third on a throwing error from a ball off the bat of freshman
Blake Allen (Bulverde, Texas). Beaird was plunked by a pitch to load the bases and Lopez doubled, scoring two. A wild pitch later in the inning scored Beaird, making the score 9-5.
Sophomore
Ryan Alaniz (San Antonio) walked to start the sixth inning. With one out,
Garrett Ticer walked, and Allen reached on a fielding error, scoring Alaniz. Beaird singled up the middle to score Ticer, and Beaird moved up 90 feet on a wild pitch. A Lopez groundout plated Allen and a Brooks double down the left field line scored Beaird to knot the score at 9-9.
With one out in the seventh, Alaniz again walked, scoring on a double by Mendez for the winning run.
