March 21, 2009
San Antonio – St. Mary’s University rallied from four runs down to take game one, then rode the hot pitching of Alfonso Maldonado to win in game two, completing a four-game series sweep of Texas A&M-International University, 6-5, 9-0, in Heartland Conference baseball action Saturday afternoon at V.J. Keefe Memorial Stadium.
Maldonado (Jr., Laredo) struggled in the first inning, allowing four base hits, but did not allow a run, thanks to a double play. He settled down after that, allowing just four more base runners the rest of the game. He finished the day with his first shutout as a Rattler, striking out six batters to improve to 4-3.
Offensively the Rattlers picked up 13 hits, with Michael Brzezinski (Sr., Helotes) leading the way with a school-record tying three doubles. He also drove home two runs and scored three more. Danny Cantu (Sr., Laredo) and Jonathon Cisneros (Jr., San Antonio) each had two hits to pace the offensive effort.
In the first game the Rattlers fell behind early to the Dustdevils before rallying late for the third straight game. TAMIU scored two runs in the first and third innings and added a single run in the fourth to take a 5-1 lead. The Rattlers started the comeback in the fifth inning. Ryan Morrow (So., Bulverde) singled to lead off and was followed by Tyler Migl (Fr., San Antonio), who also singled. Billy Richard (Fr., Schertz) then doubled to bring home both Morrow and Migl, making it a 5-3 game.
One inning later the Rattlers continued their rally. Reagan Moczygemba (So., Bulverde) led off with a double to left and Colin Stock (So., Klamath Falls, Ore.) followed with a single to put runners on the corners. Stock then stole second to put two runners in scoring position. However, Roger Gonzalez retired the next two batters, but Migl picked up a two-out, two-run single to tie the game at five. The following inning Cisneros drew a two-out walk and Moczygemba followed with a double to right-center, bringing Cisneros in with the game-winning run.
With the sweep St. Mary’s is now 21-10 overall this season and 19-8 in Heartland Conference play. TAMIU fell to 10-18 and 9-15. The Rattlers will return to action on Wednesday when they travel to San Angelo to face Angelo State University in a single game at 6 p.m.