TYLER, Texas — In one of baseball's cruelest twists, the No. 22 St. Mary's University Baseball team threw a no-hitter in the first game of the Lone Star Conference Tournament and still walked away with a 3-2 loss to No. 19 Angelo State after five defensive miscues proved costly.
The Rattlers (38-16) committed four errors in the first inning, spotting the Rams (38-15) two runs on no hits with two walks. Junior
Brandon Vasquez (Round Rock, Texas) came in for junior
Gabe Cook (San Antonio) for the final out of the inning and had electric stuff. Vasquez pitched 5 1/3 innings, not allowing a hit with four strikeouts and two walks. Junior
Matthew Janecek (Houston) retired all six batters he faced for a perfect seventh and eighth inning, and senior
Edward Mendoza (Eagle Pass, Texas) was the recipient of the loss on his record as an error in the ninth gave way to ASU walking the game off on a sacrifice fly to right field.
St. Mary's scored its two runs on solo home runs by senior
Garrett Brooks (Spring Branch, Texas) and junior
Ethan Hughes (League City, Texas) in the second and ninth innings, respectively, as the team collected eight hits but stranded eight runners on base.
Brooks hit a home run to straight-away centerfield to get one run back in the top of the second inning. Senior
Jacob King (San Antonio) was hit by a pitch in the middle of his back. Hughes took the first pitch he saw past a diving shortstop, and freshman
Blake Allen (Bulverde, Texas) sprinted down the first base line for a single on a bunt to the left of the pitching mound to load the bases and force the Rams to go to the bullpen, but the Rams were able to get out of the inning with a double play.
Raithen Malone (Mont Belvieu, Texas) entered the game defensively for
Ashton Beaird (San Antonio) at second base in the bottom of the third. It's his first game on offense since March 15, when he was injured, though he did pinch hit in the first week of the tournament on May 2.
Vasquez retired the first seven batters he faced before a walk in the bottom of the fourth, but his catcher,
Dillon Lopez (San Antonio), helped him out, throwing out the Lone Star Conference Player of the Year, Austin Beck, at second base for his 21st runner caught stealing in 2026.
Vasquez pulled the team together outside the dugout before they hit in the top of the ninth with some words of encouragement, and Hughes kept his amazing LSC Tournament going, depositing the first pitch he saw over the fence in left field to knot the score at 2-2.
In the ninth, the leadoff hitter for the Rams reached on an error, stole second, moved to third on a groundout and scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Payton Bush.
The Rattlers will face the loser of the UT Tyler vs Lubbock Christian game at 11 a.m. on Friday, May 8.
NEWS & NOTES
- Jacob King was hit by a pitch in the second inning, the 24th time he's been hit this season, which is second on the team and the fourth-most in school history. David Nelson (32, 2001), Ashton Beaird (29, 2026), and Ryan Femath (28, 2006) hold the top three spots on the list.
- Dillon Lopez threw out his 21st runner of the season, erasing a walk in the fourth. He is now tied for fourth in St. Mary's single-season history. Joseph Contreras owns the school record with 32 caught stealing in 2001.
- The no-hitter is the first for St. Mary's since Feb. 21, 2014, against Rogers State, when the Rattlers won 2-0.
- It is believed to be the first no-hitter in a loss in school history.
- The home run for Garrett Brooks moves him into the team lead for the season with nine, while Ethan Hughes hit his third of the year.
- Ethan Hughes is 4-for-5 in the tournament with two walks and a home run in four games. He pinch hit in each of the games against West Texas A&M, going 2-for-2 with a walk and two RBI.
- StMU is 0-4 this season against UT Tyler and 3-1 against Lubbock Christian.
