No. 17 Baseball Splits Saturday Doubleheader in Odessa

ODESSA, Texas – The No. 17 St. Mary's University Baseball team split a Saturday doubleheader at UT Permian Basin, dropping game one 17-6 before rebounding for a 9-8 win in the second contest. The game one loss snaps the Rattlers' eight-game winning streak.
 
After extremely strong winds blowing in for game one on Friday, the opposite was true on Saturday, as the temperature dropped over 20 degrees, and the wind aided a few balls. The two teams combined to hit nine home runs, with eight coming in the first game of the day.
 
With the split, St. Mary's moves to 34-11 on the year, while the Falcons are now 13-32, and the two teams will conclude the four-game series at Roden Field on Sunday, starting at 1 p.m. 
 
GAME ONE (UTPB 17, StMU 6)
Multiple runs were scored in each inning but the fifth, as the two teams combined to score 23 runs on 30 hits with no errors. The Falcons scored 17 of the game's runs, ending the Rattlers' streak at eight, and they wasted no time, scoring five runs in the first, including hitting two of the eight home runs in the contest.
 
Daylon Jefcoats hit three home runs for UTPB with a pair of two-run shots and a grand slam for a total of eight RBI. 
 
Senior Garrett Brooks (Spring Branch, Texas) and sophomores Ryan Alaniz (San Antonio) and Rob Gonzalez (Pleasanton, Texas) each hit a home run for the Gold and Blue, but they were unable to complete the comeback. 
 
Sophomore Derek Maples (San Antonio) took his first loss of the season, moving to 4-1, after giving up five runs on four hits with a walk in 1/3 of an inning. Braeden Brown (Sinton, Texas), Matthew Janecek (Houston) and Ryan Perez (San Antonio) all pitched in relief, with Janecek eating up 3 2/3 innings.
 
GAME TWO (StMU 9, UTPB 8)
The nightcap saw five lead changes, and the Rattlers took advantage of free bases, as they were walked nine times and hit by a pitch another six times to help score nine runs on only six hits.
 
Senior Edward Mendoza (Eagle Pass, Texas) was credited with the win to move to 3-1 on the year. He pitched the final 1 1/3 innings and didn't allow a hit, though he walked one and struck out one. Junior Gabe Cook (San Antonio) started on the hill and threw two innings. He surrendered six runs on eight hits and fanned one Falcon. Senior Kaleb Gauna (Hondo, Texas) pitched the next 3 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on four hits. He struck out four and walked two before handing the ball to Mendoza.
 
Gauna's second strikeout of the game, which came on the final out of the fourth inning, was the 150th strikeout of his career.
 
Junior Matt Mendez (Natalia, Texas) was 2-for-3 on offense, driving in four of the team's nine runs on a pair of doubles. He was the only Rattler with multiple hits in the game, though Ashton Beaird (San Antonio) was on base four times after walking twice and getting hit twice, and he scored two runs. Senior Jacob King (San Antonio) and freshman Blake Allen (Bulverde, Texas) also scored two runs each. King also stole three bases, tying for the most this season by a Rattler, as Beaird also swiped three at Sul Ross on Jan. 31.
 
Tied at 8-8 in the top of the seventh, junior Dillon Lopez (San Antonio) took the 2-2 pitch to the wall in the gap in right-center for a triple. Brooks walked, setting up Alaniz for the sacrifice fly to left field to score Lopez for the winning run.