This Week in Rattlers Baseball
West Texas A&M at St. Mary's
March 27-29 // Games 31-34 // San Antonio // Dickson Stadium
Broadcast: FloCollege // Play-by-Play: Rob Shadow
West Texas A&M Buffaloes
Record 21-9
Ranking NR/RV/NR
Head Coach Cory Hall
WT Record 52-30 (2nd Year)
Career Record Same
St. Mary's Rattlers
Record 22-8
Ranking 14/28/RV
Head Coach Frank Kellner
StMU Record 71-62 (3rd Year)
Career Record Same
Polls are NCBWA/ABCA/DII Baseball
By The Numbers
78 The Rattlers have scored 78 more runs than the opposition in 2026 (258-180). In the fifth through seventh innings, StMU has almost doubled up the opponents, outscoring them 122-63 (+59).
.229 St. Mary's held St. Edward's to a .229 batting average in the four games last week, the lowest batting average of any opponent in a series this season for the Rattlers, and well below the Hilltoppers average of .315.
.733 The Rattlers are tied for the best record in the Lone Star Conference at 22-8, which translates to a .733 winning percentage.
Week Nine: The St. Mary's Baseball team will host West Texas A&M for a four-game series beginning on Friday at 6 p.m. The game Sunday will begin at Noon, not the normal 1 p.m. time slot due to the long travel for the Buffaloes. WT is one game behind the Rattlers in the standings with a 21-9 record and has won its last three games.
Inside the Series: West Texas A&M holds a slight 17-13 edge in the all-time series against St. Mary's and they are 10-6 at Dickson Stadium, however the Rattlers have split or won each of the last three series, including taking three of four in Canyon a year ago.
Battle of the Saints: By virtue of winning three of the four games last week at St. Edward's, the Rattlers have clinched the victory in the annual Battle of the Saints. St. Mary's won points for Women's Soccer, Volleyball, STUNT and Baseball, and earned 1/2 a point for the split in Men's Basketball, giving the Rattlers 4.5 points. St. Edward's won points for Men's Soccer and Women's Basketball and has 0.5 point for MBB, and the teams are currently split in softball, meaning the Rattlers win the annual competition for the third-straight year.
Double Trouble: St. Mary's swept the Lone Star Athlete of the Week awards this week as Ashton Beaird was named the Hitter of the Week and Gabe Cook was named the Pitcher of the Week. Beaird hit .500 (8-for-16) in the series at St. Edward's with a grand slam, one walk and he was hit by a pitch three times. Cook threw six innings in the 17-0 shutout win, pitching 5 2/3 innings of perfect baseball, striking out six, allowing only one hit. He was also named the NCBWA South Central Region Pitcher of the Week. The Rattlers have won all three games since Cook moved to the starting lineup.
Long Ball Party: Both Rob Gonzalez and Matt Mendez joined the list of Rattlers with a home run this season. Gonzalez hit a two-run shot in the second game of the doubleheader on Saturday, while Mendez hit a grand slam in the series finale on Sunday. Senior Garrett Brooks leads the team, and is tied for the Lone Star lead, with seven home runs, while Ryan Alaniz and Dillon Lopez have each hit five, Blake Allen has three, and Ashton Beaird and Ethan Hughes each have two.
Eliminating The Freebies: Twice in the last five games, St. Mary's pitchers have done something that hadn't happened in over four seasons, when they didn't give up a free base. In the finale against Texas A&M-Kingsville, Eric Tenery, Kaleb Gauna and Christian Molinar did not walk or hit a batter. On Saturday in game two at St. Edward's, Gabe Cook and Daniel Vogt echoed the accomplishment. The previous time the staff did not allow a free base was Feb. 13, 2022 against Arkansas Tech in a 4-2 win.
By The Numbers: Senior Kaleb Gauna needs seven more K's for 150 strikeouts in his career. He has fanned 143 in 172.1 innings... Senior Jacob King needs to cross home plate nine more times for the 100th run of his career, and he is five total bases shy of 200... The Rattlers have drawn 180 walks this season, which ranks 11th in the nation, and rank 16th overall and third in the LSC with 61 hit by pitch... St. Mary's is 12-0 this season when out-hitting the opponent and 12-0 when scoring 10 or more runs... The team is also 8-1 in games decided by two runs or fewer.
Whatever It Takes: Junior Dillon Lopez has been on base in all 28 games that he's played in 2026. Lopez is hitting .320 with 32 hits, 17 walks and four HBP. In those 28 games he's reached base more than once 15 times. Sophomore Ryan Alaniz has also reached base safely in 17 straight games.
Ball Magnets: Jacob King and Ashton Beaird have combined to be hit by a pitch 31 times, with King being plunked 16 times and Beaird 15, though they hit from opposite sides of the plate. The two rank 1-2 in the Lone Star Conference and sixth and ninth in the nation, respectively. The school record for HBP in a season is 32 by David Nelson in 2001.
Made to be Broken: St. Mary's turned six double plays in the second game of the doubleheader against Texas A&M International, breaking the school record of four, done 10 times in St. Mary's history. The last time the Rattlers turned four was in 2023 against Angelo State. St. Mary's has turned 19 double plays this season.
League Leaders: St. Mary's leads the Lone Star Conference statistics in triple plays (1), win/loss percentage (.733) and walks allowed per nine innings (4.19). The team is also second in the LSC in sacrifice bunts (23), shutouts (2), and strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.07) and is third in base on balls (180), earned run average (5.33), hit by pitch (61), home runs (29), runs (258), scoring (8.6), strikeouts per nine innings (8.7) and WHIP (1.57).
Free Bases: Ashton Beaird is getting on base every other plate appearance. Beaird has an on-base percentage of .520 after walking 22 times and getting hit 15 more. He has a .329 batting average (28-for-85) and is second on the team lead with 28 runs scored.
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. It is his second weekly award for both and the first since Feb. 2024.
Triple Play: St. Mary's is one of four teams in the nation to have turned a triple play this season. In the eighth inning of game two against Sul Ross State 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 is the 10th different Rattler to steal three bases, and the first since Tristan Moreno did so last season.
