SAN ANTONIO — The No. 17 St. Mary's University Baseball team started strong against Angelo State on Friday evening, but was unable to sustain the lead, allowing the Rams to score seven unanswered runs for the 7-3 loss in the first game of the series.
The Rattlers (12-3) plated three runs in the fifth inning on three hits, a walk, a hit batter and a fielding error by the Rams (11-4). The bullpen allowed seven runs over the final four innings on six hits with four walks.
Junior
Brandon Vasquez (Round Rock, Texas) was stellar in his fifth start of the season. In five innings of work, he allowed only three hits with three walks and struck out a career-high six batters.
The defense of catcher
Dillon Lopez (San Antonio) was also terrific for the Rattlers. He caught three runners stealing, throwing one out at second, tracking down a wild pitch in time to tag a runner out at home, and forcing a runner into a rundown on a double steal attempt.
St. Mary's was limited to four hits by the Rams' pitching.
Blake Allen (Bulverde, Texas),
Raithen Malone (Mont Belvieu, Texas),
Ryan Alaniz (San Antonio) and
Matt Mendez (Natalia, Texas) each recorded a hit, while Allen and Mendez were credited with RBIs.
Christian Molinar dropped to 0-1 on the season, after giving up three runs on two hits in 2/3 of an inning of work, while Garrett Baumann improved to 4-2 for ASU, after not allowing a hit over the final three innings.
The two teams return to the diamond on Saturday for a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. The series will conclude on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Dickson Stadium.
