This Week in Rattlers Baseball
UT Tyler at St. Mary's
April 24-26 // Games 47-50 // San Antonio // Dickson Stadium
UT Tyler Patriots
Record 37-9
Ranking 8/9/9
Head Coach Brent Porche
UTT Record 333-146 (10th Year)
Career Record 480-229 (14th Year)
St. Mary's Rattlers
Record 35-11
Ranking 15/15/21
Head Coach Frank Kellner
StMU Record 84-65 (3rd Year)
Career Record Same
Polls are NCBWA/ABCA/DII Baseball
By The Numbers
24 St. Mary's has 35 wins on the season, marking the 24th time in school history a team has won at least 35, though it is the first time since 2018 a team has achieved the milestone. The 2006-2015 teams all won at least 35 games, the longest streak in the storied Rattler history.
3 Junior Ashton Beaird tied the school record with three doubles in the opening game of the series at UT Permian Basin last week. Beaird becomes the 10th player to hit three doubles in a contest for the Rattlers, and the first since Clay Bradford in 2022.
13 Senior Jacob King is in the midst of the longest hitting streak of his career, hitting in each of the last 13 games. King also tied the school record with three stolen bases in the final game at UT Permian Basin on Sunday.
Week Thirteen: The St. Mary's Baseball team hosts UT Tyler in the final series of the regular season. The Rattlers need to win the series to claim at least a share of the Lone Star Conference title, while the Patriots clinch a share with at least one victory.
Around the Park: On Friday, the Rattlers will welcome a color guard and singer for the National Anthem and celebrate Fan Appreciation Friday, with free food and activities for the fans. On Saturday, Judge Nelson W. Wolff will throw out the first pitch. Wolff, a St. Mary's alumnus, served as Bexar County Judge from 2001 to 2022, and served as Mayor of San Antonio, member of San Antonio's City Council, the Texas House of Representatives and Texas Senate. He recently released a book "The Elysian Fields of Baseball: The Spiritual Evolution of America's Game" and will be signing copies for the team prior to the game. The book is available for purchase on Amazon, along with his eight other published works. On Sunday, the Rattlers will celebrate Senior Day, with festivities beginning at 12:30 p.m.
Inside the Series: St. Mary's trails 13-6 in the all-time series with UT Tyler, and the Rattlers were swept a season ago. The teams are tied at 4-4 in games played at Dickson Stadium.
A Look Back: The Rattlers won three of four at UT Permian Basin, though the Falcons held the lead at one point in all four games. Wind played a factor in the entire series, as the teams combined for 11 home runs and 26 doubles. St. Mary's also pushed the defense for UTPB, stealing nine bases.
Tie Goes to the Runner: Senior Jacob King became the latest to tie the school record for stolen bases in a game, swiping three in the finale at UT Permian Basin. He is the 11th different Rattler to steal three bases, joining Ashton Beaird and Tristan Moreno on the active roster.
Rewriting the Books: The 2026 edition of the Rattlers appear several times in the single game record books this season.
Stat Rank Total Opponent Date
RBI T8 22 at Sul Ross Feb. 1
Home Runs T6 6 at Sul Ross Feb. 1
Walks 3 16 Okla. Christian Feb. 7
T4 14 at Sul Ross Jan. 31
Hit by Pitch 1 9 at Sul Ross Jan. 31
T2 7 at St. Edward's Mar. 21
T2 7 at St. Edward's Mar. 22
T7 6 at UTPB Apr. 18
Sac Flies T1 4 at ENMU Apr. 3
Sac Bunts T1 6 Cameron Apr. 10
Stolen Bases 3 8 West Texas A&M Mar. 29
DP Turned 1 6 Angelo State Apr. 1
Extra Bases: Senior Garrett Brooks leads the team with 24 extra-base hits this season, 15 doubles, one triple and eight home runs, and has had at least one extra-base hit in each of the last 10 series. He also ranks sixth in the Lone Star Conference in RBI with 51 and sixth in total bases with 98.
Helping Hand: Freshman Blake Allen collected eight assists against Cameron in the first game of the doubleheader on Friday, tying for the third most in a game in St. Mary's history. He was one off the record of nine held by Derek Hamilton (5/2/2015) and Johnny Hernandez (5/20/2021), and he is the 11th player to have eight in a game.
Going the Distance: Junior Gabe Cook became the second Rattler this season to throw a complete game, defeating Cameron 3-1 in Saturday's first game. Cook allowed only one run on three hits, with no walks and five strikeouts in the first complete game of his career. Cook is now 6-0 on the year with a 2.87 ERA.
Cooking With Gas: Gabe Cook currently ranks 7th in all of Division II in WHIP at 0.94. Cook is also 29th in Division II in hits allowed per nine innings at 6.61, which leads the Lone Star Conference.
Closing In: Garrett Brooks is closing in on the top 10 in career RBI at St. Mary's. Brooks currently has 149 RBI to his name, while Rodney Williams (1993-96) and Donnie Perez (2016-19) are tied for ninth on the chart with 153. Brooks already ranks 10th in career home runs with 26. Fellow senior Jacob King moved up two spots into 5th in hit by pitch, passing Ryan Femath (2006-07; 33) and Tyler Migl (2009-12; 34) over the weekend. Junior Dillon Lopez is now tied for seventh in runners thrown out with 24, and his 17 this season is tied for the seventh-most in a single season with Ryan Morrow (2009).
Getting on Base: Junior Dillon Lopez reached base in the first 37 games of the season, which is the second-longest streak to start a season in St. Mary's Division II history (2000-present) behind the 47 straight by Bryan Ramirez in 2016. It is also tied for the fourth-longest streak ever, tying Derek Mueller from 2021. Senior Garrett Brooks has been on base in 23 straight, while Jacob King has reached safely in 21 consecutive.
Goin' Streaking: Seven Rattlers are currently on multi-game hitting streaks, led by senior Jacob King, who is on a career-long streak at 13 games. His streak is the longest career streak of any active players, surpassing Garrett Brooks' streak of 11 from a year ago.
Top of the Mound: The Rattlers pitching staff has put together some impressive numbers this season. Derek Maples ranks sixth in the league with a 3.83 ERA, while Gabe Cook is seventh at 3.86. Cook leads the LSC with only 6.61 hits allowed/9 innings, while Maples is seventh with 8.81. Edward Mendoza leads the league and ranks 16th nationally with six saves, while Cook is fifth in the Lone Star with three. Cook has a 3.70 K-to-BB ratio to rank fifth, while Eric Tenery is right behind him at 2.85. Tenery also is third in the LSC with 57 strikeouts. Maples is fourth with 9.00 strikeouts/9 innings, and Tenery with sixth with 8.55. Tenery also ranks third with seven wins and Cook leads with an 0.94 WHIP and is second with 1.84 walks allowed, while Tenery is sixth with 3.00.
Eliminating The Freebies: Three times this year, StMU pitchers have done something that hadn't happened in over four seasons, not giving up a free base during a game. The Rattlers currently lead the Lone Star in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.06).
It's An Honor: The Rattlers have had four honored by the Lone Star Conference this season, as Garrett Brooks (Feb. 3), Ashton Beaird (March 23), Gabe Cook (March 23) and Dillon Lopez (March 30) have all been named Athletes of the Week. Brooks, Cook and Lopez were also named the NCBWA South Central Region Athlete of the Week.
By The Numbers: Junior Gabe Cook is seven strikeouts shy of 100 for his career, while Matthew Janecek needs 12... Dillon Lopez collected the 100th hit of his career at UT Permian Basin with his last one... Senior Kaleb Gauna struck out four at UTPB, giving him 150 K's in his career... The 13 saves by the team ranks third in StMU single-season history.
Ball Magnets: Ashton Beaird (24) and Jacob King (22) have combined to be hit by a pitch 46 times. The two rank 1-2 in the Lone Star Conference and fourth and seventh in the nation, respectively. The school record for HBP in a season is 32 by David Nelson in 2001. The Rattlers broke the school's team record for HBP in a season, getting plunked 88 times. The previous record was 87 by the 2021 team.
League Leaders: St. Mary's leads the Lone Star Conference statistics in sacrifice bunts (43), strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.06), triple plays (1). The team is also second in the LSC in shutouts (3), win/loss percentage (.761), and walks allowed per nine innings (3.95).
