No. 17 Baseball Hosts Angelo State for Week Five

Angelo State at St. Mary's
February 27-28, March 1 // Games 15-18 // San Antonio // Dickson Stadium
Broadcast: FloCollege // Play-by-Play: Rob Shadow

Angelo State Rams
Record    10-4
Ranking    RV/18/15
Head Coach    Kevin Brooks
ASU Record    846-368 (22nd Year)
Career Record    Same

St. Mary's Rattlers
Record    12-2
Ranking    17/23/RV
Head Coach    Frank Kellner
StMU Record    61-56 (3rd Year)
Career Record    Same

By The Numbers
99 St. Mary's currently ranks second in the Lone Star Conference and ninth in the nation with 99 base on balls. On the flip side, the Rattlers pitchers have walked 58 and StMU ranks second in the LSC with 4.50 walks allowed per nine innings.
5  Senior Kaleb Gauna is one of four players in the nation to have started five games this season. Gauna is 0-1 with four no decisions in 16 innings pitched.
17 The Rattlers are ranked 17th in the NCBWA poll. It is the first time since the preseason poll in 2016 that St. Mary's has appeared in the top-25 of that poll. StMU is also ranked 23rd in the ABCA Coaches poll.

 

Week Five: The St. Mary's Baseball team returns home to host Angelo State for a four-game series beginning on Friday at 6 p.m. The Rattlers snapped a four-game losing skid to the Rams in the series finale last year, but ASU holds a 39-13 edge in the all-time meetings.

Finding His Groove: Sophomore transfer Ryan Alaniz recorded five hits at Lubbock Christian last week, the most he's had in a series this year. Two of his five hits left the yard, including the game-winner in the seventh inning of game one.

King of the Bases: Senior Jacob King has reached base safely in every game this season, and in 19 straight dating back to last year. It is the longest streak by anyone on the current roster, tied with senior Garrett Brooks, who reached in 19 straight a season ago.

Nationally Ranked: St. Mary's jumped into the national rankings in two of the three polls and is receiving votes in the other. The Rattlers are ranked No. 17 in the NCBWA, 23rd in the ABCA poll and receiving votes in the D2 Baseball team. It is the first regular season poll the team has been ranked in since 2018 in the ABCA poll and 2016 in the NCBWA poll.

Fast Start: The 12-2 record is the best start for the Rattlers since the 2012 team began 15-2 and advanced to the Division II College World Series.

League Leaders: St. Mary's leads the Lone Star Conference statistics in home runs (20), runs scored (140), sacrifice bunts (10), scoring (10.0), strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.19), triple plays (1) and W/L Pct. (.857). The team is also second in the LSC in base on balls (99), triples (5), and walks allowed per nine innings (4.50). 

Cooking With Gas: Junior left-hander Gabe Cook is tied for fourth in the nation with three saves, two off the lead of five by John Perozzi from Barry. He is 1 1/3 innings 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. 

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 in the series at Sul Ross State, Ashton Beaird also tied the school record for stolen bases in a game, swiping three in game two. He becomes the 10th different Rattler to steal three bases, and the first since Tristan Moreno did so last season. 

Regionally Ranked: The Rattlers climbed three spots to third in the NCBWA South Central Region poll. The Rattlers received 58 points and one first-place nod, while UT Tyler leads the region with 78 points. Colorado Mesa is second with 69 points.

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.