San Antonio – Arkansas-Fort Smith broke open a tight game with a five-run fifth inning Sunday, spurring the Lions past St. Mary’s 8-1 at V.J. Keefe Memorial Stadium.

After Rattlers first baseman Tyler Migl (Jr., San Antonio) tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth on a sacrifice fly out to left field, UA-Fort Smith responded with a four-hit, five-run inning to put the game out of reach.

The Rattlers dropped to 4-3 on the season, though they remain 3-0 in Heartland Conference play since the Lions are a provisional member of the conference.

The Lions took the three-game series 2-1 after dropping the series opener, 6-3, on Saturday.

In Game 2 on Saturday, St. Mary’s nearly came back from a 15-4 hole, cutting the deficit to 15-11 in the eighth in the eventual loss. The Rattlers weren’t able to put in as much of a scare Sunday, producing just three hits in 27 at-bats in a well-pitched game by the Lions.

St. Mary’s relief pitcher Sammy Rivas (Sr., San Antonio) entered with two outs in the seventh and proceeded to pitch 2.1 scoreless innings with three strikeouts. But the damage was already done with the Rattlers trailing 8-1 at the time.

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Despite striking out five and yielding just three hits, Carl O’Neal (So., San Antonio) picked up the loss.

The Rattlers will travel across town to take on Incarnate Word at 3 p.m. Tuesday.

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