St. Mary's Edges Greyhounds, 5-4

SAN ANTONIO, TX - St. Mary’s University (Texas) built a 5-1 lead over the first six innings, then held of a rally by Eastern New Mexico University, as the Rattlers defeated the Greyhounds, 5-4, on Monday, Mar. 17 at V.J. Keefe Stadium. St. Mary’s improved to 20-5 on the season (18-3 at home), while ENMU dropped to 7-23 overall.

St. Mary’s scored the game’s first run with one out in the bottom of the second inning on a solo homer by Brian Faseler. Manuel Reyes singled with two outs in the inning, only to wind up stranded at first when ENMU starter Jesse Garcia-Perez (Fr., RHP, Laredo, TX/Alexander HS) struck out Russell Hodges.

Mark Wallace (So., CF, Alamogordo, NM/Alamogordo HS) singled for ENMU to open the third inning. The next two batters struck out, but Wallace reached second base on a wild pitch. Dallas McMann (Sr., C, Amarillo, TX/Randall HS) also struck out, but advanced to first on another wild pitch. Franco Barrero (Sr., DH/1B, Laredo, TX/Laredo JC) and Chris Hill (Sr., 2B, Boise, ID/Scottsdale CC) both walked to push Wallace across the plate.

The Rattlers increased their lead to 3-1 with two runs in the bottom of the third. St. Mary’s took advantage of two ENMU errors during the stanza. The Rattlers also received an RBI double from Steve Driffill and an RBI single from John Alvarez.

Two more runs in the sixth inning gave St. Mary’s a 5-1 lead. Faseler started the inning by reaching first on an error, then relief pitcher David Swinconos (Fr., LHP, Wolfforth, TX/Frenship HS) struck out Derek Nelson and caused Reyes to pop up to second base. Hodges followed with a two-run homer to right field. It was his first home run of the season.

Eastern rallied to within a single run over the next two innings. In the top of the seventh, Steven Romano (Sr., SS/3B, Las Cruces, NM/Onate HS) doubled with one out, then advanced to third on a wild pitch. He scored on a ground out by Wallace. In the eighth, Boyd Erickson (Jr., RF, Anchorage, AK/Victor Valley CC) hit a leadoff single and scored when McMann homered to right field. McMann increased his team-leading total to six home runs.

After the two-run homer, St. Mary’s moved Nelson from first base to the mound. He struck out Barrero, before forcing a ground out and a fly out to end the ENMU threat.
ENMU reliever Michael Cervera (Sr., RHP, El Paso, TX/El Paso CC) gave up three hits in the seventh, but did not allow a run. Kelly Crain (Fr., RHP, Gordon, TX/Gordon HS), the fourth pitcher on the evening for Eastern, struck out two batters, while holding St. Mary’s scoreless in the eighth.

Nelson struck out Boe Parr (Fr., 1B/C, Santa Fe, NM/Capital HS) to open the Eastern half of the ninth inning, but walked Romano to put the tying run on base. Trevor Albritton (Fr., IF, Roswell, NM/Roswell HS) pinch ran for Romano. Nelson struck out Wallace for the second out, then got Gilbert Alvarado (Fr., LF, Roswell, NM/N.M. State University) to end the game with a ground out to short.

Carlos Guevara, the starting pitcher for St. Mary’s, struck out 11 Greyhounds over the first seven innings. He also walked three batters and threw three wild pitches, but improved to 5-0 on the season. Carlos Tristan gave up Eastern’s final two runs without recording an out. Nelson, who struck out three batters and allowed no hits over the final two innings, registered his first save.

Garcia-Perez threw five innings for ENMU. He struck out six batters and did not allow a walk. He gave up seven hits and three runs, but only one of the runs was earned. Swinconos allowed two runs on Hodges’ homer, but both runs were unearned.

McMann, who went 2 for 4 with a run and two RBIs, was the only Eastern player with more than one hit. Erickson, Romano and Wallace each recorded one hit and scored one run. Wallace also earned an RBI.

Three Rattlers - Driffill, Alvarez and Ricky Bonilla - each registered two hits. Faseler scored two runs, while Hodges led St. Mary’s with two RBIs. St. Mary’s earned 11 hits during the game, while ENMU managed just five hits.

The Greyhounds will take on the Rattlers in another 9-inning game on Tuesday, Mar. 18. Game time is scheduled for 6 p.m. (MST). ENMU will remain on the road for a single game at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas, at 1 p.m. (MST) on Wednesday, Mar. 19.