February 7, 2009
San Antonio – St. Mary’s University continued its assault on Oklahoma Panhandle State University, totaling 26 hits and 23 runs as the 17th-ranked Rattlers swept past the Aggies, 10-6, 13-1, in Heartland Conference baseball action Saturday afternoon at V.J. Keefe Memorial Stadium.
The Rattlers broke open a close game with an eight-run third inning in the night-cap and rolled from there. Michael Brzezinski (Sr., Helotes) had three hits, including a triple and drove in three runs to lead the cause. The Rattlers tied a school record with three triples in a game – all three of which came in the third inning. Tyler Cales (Sr., San Antonio) picked up the win in his first start of the season, allowing just one unearned run on two hits in four innings of work.
In the first game the Rattlers had to rally for a 10-6 win. Ryan Morrow (So., Bulverde) came on in relief in the fourth inning and was nearly flawless, holding the Aggies hitless, while allowing one walk and striking out three in 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. He picked up his first win of the season in his first appearance.
With the score tied at 6-6 in the fourth inning, the Rattlers finally put the Aggies away. David Vaio (Sr., San Antonio) gave the Rattlers the lead for good with an RBI double and Colin Stock (So., Klamath Falls, Ore.), Josh McElroy (Fr., Helotes) and Reagan Moczygemba (So., Bulverde) followed with run-scoring singles to give the Rattlers a four-run lead.
With the sweep the Rattlers improved to 5-0 overall and 4-0 in Heartland Conference play. The 5-0 start to the season ties for the second best start to a season in school history. OPSU fell to 1-7, 0-4. St. Mary’s will return to action on Tuesday when they travel south to Kingsville to face Texas A&M University-Kingsville for a single game starting at 5 p.m.