February 3, 2009
San Antonio – Alfonso Maldonado and Courtney Behrend combined on a four-hitter, while Jonathon Cisneros and David Vaio led the offense as 17th-ranked St. Mary’s University opened the 2009 season with a 5-3 win against Tarleton State University on Tuesday afternoon at V.J. Keefe Memorial Stadium.
Maldonado (Jr., Laredo) allowed three runs on four hits and two walks in five innings of work to improve to 1-0. Behrend (Jr., Comfort) entered the game to start the sixth inning in his first appearance as a Rattler and was dominant, tossing four scoreless and hitless innings, while striking out eight to earn the save. Behrend struck out the last five batters he faced and seven of the last eight.
At the plate, Cisneros (Jr., San Antonio) was a perfect 3-for-3 with a double, two RBI and two walks. Cisneros two-run double in the fourth put the Rattlers ahead for good at 3-1. Vaio (Sr., San Antonio) went 2-for-2 with an RBI single and two walks in his season debut. Ryan Morrow (So., Bulverde) smashed his first homerun as a Rattler in the fifth inning.
With the win St. Mary’s is 1-0 this season, while Tarleton State is 2-2. The Rattlers will return to action on Friday when they host Oklahoma Panhandle State University at 2 p.m. in a Heartland Conference doubleheader at V.J. Keefe Memorial Stadium.