Hear from Head Coach Bryan Aughney.
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The baseball team won a four-game series against Ottawa University-Arizona (OUAZ) 3-1 from March 4-6. The Saints improve to 7-8 this season while the Spirit drop to 8-10.
Game one
The Saints started the series against OUAZ with an extra-inning victory on Thursday. OLLU took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. The Spirit tied the game with a last-minute effort in the top of the ninth inning to force extra innings. Robert Lopez (SR/San Antonio, Texas) was the hero for the Saints when he hit a game-winning sacrifice fly to score Jacob Montejano (SO/San Antonio, Texas) in the bottom of the 12th inning.
OLLU limited OUAZ to five hits and five Saints pitchers combined for nine strikeouts. Matthew Klar (SO/San Antonio, Texas) batted 2-for-4 and drove in one run. The Saints won 2-1 heading into the doubleheader on Friday.
Game two
The Saints rode their momentum from game one in the first game of the doubleheader. Despite trailing 3-1 after three innings, the Saints scored six runs over the next two innings. They scored one run in the fourth inning and five in the fifth inning. Tyler Vivier (FR/San Antonio, Texas) hit a sacrifice fly to score Klar to start the fifth inning. Ryan Chapa (JR/Corpus Christi, Texas) singled to score Robert Arredondo (JR/Corpus Christi, Texas), Chapa later scored on a Noah Rodriguez (SO/Victoria, Texas) two-run home run, and Diaz doubled to score Montejano toward the end of the inning.
The 7-3 victory gave the Saints a 2-0 series lead. Alec Martinez (JR/Corpus Christi, Texas), Javier De Alejandro (FR/San Antonio, Texas), and Jacob Mitchell (JR/Harker Heights, Texas ) combined to allow six hits and seven strikeouts. The Saints’ pitching proved dominant for a second straight game by allowing only two runs.
Game three
The Spirit drove in one run in the top of the first inning, but the Saints responded with three runs in the bottom half of the inning. Lopez doubled to deep right-center field to score Montejano and Diaz. Later in the inning, Klar singled to left-center field to bring in Arredondo.
The Saints eventually led 4-2 after three innings. Ottawa’s bats came to life in the fifth inning when they scored five runs. The Saints were unable to score in the final two innings and lost 7-4. OLLU featured six different pitchers and Vivier batted 2-for-3.
Game four
The Saints took the final game on Saturday 6-3 to earn the 3-1 series victory. OLLU led the entire game and tallied nine hits. Four different players drove in at least one run, and Diaz picked up the save. Starting pitcher Brett Vasquez (SO/Mont Belvieu, Texas) struck out six batters and allowed four hits.
Up next
The Saints welcome the University of Houston-Victoria for a four-game series starting on March 12 at 1 p.m.