May 10, 2008

Final Stats

St. Mary's swept Texas A&M International University in Heartland Conference action on Saturday at a steamy Veterans Field. The Rattlers took the opener 16-6 before winning the series finale 6-5.

St. Mary's scored in each of the first three innings of the first game, jumping out to a 7-0 lead. TAMIU got back into the contest with a six-run fourth inning. The Dustdevils collected six hits in that frame, including a two-run home run by Danny Cornejo.

St. Mary's reliever Michael Villarreal entered the game with two outs in the fourth before striking out Ryan Flynn with a runner on second to stop the rally. He would pick up the win after limiting the Dustdevils to one base hit the rest of the way.

Angel Encinas (5-4) took the loss for the Dustdevils after allowing six runs in a 1.1 inning outing.

TAMIU (19-37, 17-32 Heartland) held a three-run lead after five innings in the second game but St. Mary's (39-17, 35-14 Heartland) scored two runs apiece in the sixth and seventh innings to get the win. Ryan Flynn and Angel Encinas boosted TAMIU to a 2-0 lead with RBI singles in the first inning. Gordon Muhammad pushed the lead to 5-2 with a RBI double in the fifth inning.

TAMIU closer Roger González entered the game with runners on first and third and no outs in the top of the sixth inning. The first batter he faced grounded into a double play and the second grounded out to shortstop and TAMIU held a 5-4 lead going into the bottom of the sixth.

The Dustdevils went down 1-2-3 in the sixth before González retired the first two batters he faced in the seventh. St. Mary's then tallied a single, walk and single to take the lead. TAMIU went down in order in the bottom of the seventh, allowing the Rattlers to escape with the win.

González (5-4) was tagged with the loss after allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits in a 2.0 inning outing. Jason Bonugli turned in a solid pitching performance, allowing four runs with five strikeouts in 5.0 innings of work.