SAN ANTONIO — A dominating relief pitching appearance and timely hitting for the St. Mary's University Baseball team helped give the team a 10-5 series-opening victory over Oklahoma Christian on Friday night at Dickson Stadium.
Senior
Joel Burgess (Atascocita, Texas) entered the game in the fifth inning and promptly shut down the Eagles' (1-3) offense, allowing only one hit and one walk over the final 4 2/3 innings. He also struck out eight, giving the Rattlers' pitching staff 13 in the game, as starting hurler
Brandon Vasquez (Round Rock, Texas) fanned five in 4 1/3 innings. Vasquez allowed three earned runs on six hits and two walks in his second start of the year.
The Rattlers (4-0) scored their 10 runs on 10 hits, with two each coming off the bats of
Ashton Beaird (San Antonio),
Jacob King (San Antonio),
Ryan Alaniz (San Antonio), and
Matt Mendez (Natalia, Texas). Both Beaird and junior
Dillon Lopez (San Antonio) hit home runs, with Beaird driving in a team-high four RBI on the night.
It is the first time since 2020 the Rattlers have started the season 4-0, and it is the first four-game stretch since March 2-March 8, 2025, the team has scored 10 or more runs in each.
St. Mary's quickly responded to the Eagles' early run in the first inning. After
Raithen Malone (Mont Belvieu, Texas) drew a walk, King tripled to left center, bringing Malone home. Lopez followed with a two-run homer to left field, putting St. Mary's ahead 3-1 after the first inning.
In the second inning, the home team extended its lead. Mendez singled and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Beaird then delivered a two-run homer to right field, scoring Mendez and pushing the lead to 5-1 after two innings.
OC narrowed the gap in the fifth inning, scoring three runs on three hits, including a key RBI double by Trey Migl. The Rattlers immediately answered as King doubled in Malone to add to their lead, followed by Alaniz's RBI single, which scored King. St. Mary's led 7-5 after five innings.
In the eighth inning, StMU added three more runs, one on a throwing error to plate Alaniz and two more on a Beaird single to the gap in right center for the 10-5 final tally.
The two teams continue the series on Saturday at 2 p.m., and conclude the three-game set on Sunday at 1 p.m.
