March 21, 2008

St. Mary's swept Texas A&M International University in a Heartland Conference doubleheader on Friday afternoon in San Antonio. The Rattlers took the opener 7-1 before claiming a 7-2 win in the second game, extending TAMIU's losing streak to five games.

St. Mary's jumped out to a 5-0 lead after three innings in the opener. Danny Vaio hit a leadoff solo home run and Jonathan Rosfield added a RBI single in the fifth inning to push the Rattler lead to 7-0.

TAMIU did not score until the top of the seventh inning when Blaine Monteau drove in Angel Encinas with a RBI single. Jason Bonugli (3-4) was tagged for the loss for the Dustdevils after allowing five earned runs and five walks in a 4.0 inning outing.

St. Mary's turned up the offense in the second game as well. Rosfield's solo home run in the bottom of the fourth gave the Rattlers a 5-0 lead.

TAMIU scored two runs in the top of the fifth to cut St. Mary's lead to 5-2. Danny Cornejo hit a leadoff home run and Gordon Muhammad scored from third on a wild pitch after following Cornejo with a triple.

The Dustdevils would manage only two hits after Muhammad's run and St. Mary's secured the win with runs in the sixth and seventh innings. Daniel López (1-5) took the loss for TAMIU after allowing five runs (two earned) in 3.0 innings of work.

St. Mary's (20-7, 17-4 Heartland) finished with 22 hits for the day compared to TAMIU's (10-19, 9-15 Heartland) 11 hits.

TAMIU and St. Mary's will conclude the series tomorrow with a single game nine-inning game. First pitch is scheduled for noon at V.J. Keefe Memorial Stadium.