May 10, 2010
San Antonio – The St. Mary’s University baseball team will head to the NCAA Division II South Central Region Tournament this week. The fifth seeded Rattlers (39-17 overall) will face second seed Abilene Christian University in the first round of the tournament on Thursday at noon.
The Rattlers are coming off two losses at the Heartland Conference Tournament. St. Mary’s was the regular season Heartland Conference Champions with a 35-13 record. Abilene Christian won the regular season and postseason titles in the Lone Star Conference and has a 46-13 overall record. The Wildcats are ranked seventh in the nation by the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, while the Rattlers are 30th in the nation in that poll.
The Rattlers are led by Ryan Morrow (Jr., Bulverde, Texas), a first team All-Heartland Conference selection this season. Morrow is hitting .375 with 13 doubles, 14 homeruns, 64 RBI and 53 runs scored. Defensively, he has a .981 fielding percentage and has thrown out 19 of 41 potential base stealers. James Hipp (Sr., Uvalde, Texas) leads the team with a .392 average, 11 doubles, 4 homeruns, 40 RBI and 65 runs scored.
On the mound, Alfonso Maldonado (Sr., Laredo, Texas) is 8-5, but has a 2.70 ERA, with 10 complete games and 2 shutouts. He has thrown a total of 96.2 innings, striking out 92. Matt Holland (Jr., Shreveport, La.) is 10-3 with a 4.21 ERA, 6 complete games and 69 strikeouts in 92.0 innings of work. Sammy Rivas (Jr., San Antonio) has worked his way into the closer’s role for the Rattlers and is 3-1 with 4 saves and 30 strikeouts in 31.2 innings.
The South Central Region Tournament berth is the third for St. Mary’s in 10 years as a member of NCAA Division II. The Rattlers won the South Central Region and NCAA National Championship in 2001. St. Mary’s last went to the South Central Region Tournament in 2004.
All St. Mary’s games at the Heartland Conference Tournament will be broadcast live over the internet. You must have Quicktime player installed on your computer to listen to the broadcasts. Broadcast time is five minutes prior to the scheduled start of the game.
2010 NCAA South Central Region Baseball Tournament Schedule
Warrensburg, Mo.
Thursday, May 13
Game 1 – (#2) Abilene Christian University vs. (#5) St. Mary’s University, Noon
Game 2 – (#1) University of Central Missouri vs. (#6) University of Nebraska-Omaha, 3:30 p.m.
Game 3 – (#3) Emporia State University vs. (#4) University of the Incarnate Word, 7 p.m.
Friday, May 14
Game 3 – Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, Noon
Game 4 – Winner Game 2 vs. Loser Game 3, 3:30 p.m.
Game 5 – Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 3, 7 p.m.
Saturday-Sunday, May 15-16
Schedule to be Announced