The baseball team concluded the 2021 season with a 14-7 loss to St. Thomas University (STU) in the NAIA National Championship Opening Round.

The Saints finish the season with a 34-19 overall record and 20-4 tally in Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) play. 34 victories mark the highest single-season win total in program history. OLLU was also ranked in the NAIA Coaches’ Top 25 poll for the first time.

Head Coach Bryan Aughney said, “I’m really proud of the team, the COVID-19 seniors [those who were granted another year of eligibility] and the graduating four-year players. We all put a lot of work into this season every day. We accomplished a lot of firsts this season. I’m happy we could take the team to the opening round, as it’s a valuable experience. When you get to the national tournament, every team is tough, and unfortunately, we didn’t put together our best baseball. We raised the standards of our program and continue to build in a positive direction.”

History

This is the first meeting between the two programs.

Basics

The Bobcats started the scoring in the first inning by plating three runs on three hits. OLLU responded in the third inning when Connor Dayton (SO/San Antonio, Texas) scored on an error, and Andrew Ogletree (JR/Mission, Texas) scored on a Ryan Chapa (JR/Corpus Christi, Texas) RBI groundout. After their lead was cut to 3-2, St. Thomas took a commanding 8-2 advantage by scoring five runs in the bottom of the inning.

The Bobcats added another six runs in the fourth, while OLLU started a rally in the fifth. Dayton got things rolling with an infield hit, following by a walk from Ogletree. Chapa singled to right, and after Ogletree was out after overrunning the base, Jose Diaz (SR/Pinar del Rio, Cuba) hit a three-run homer to move the Saints to 5-14.

The score stayed at 14-5 through the eighth inning when the Saints scored two runs. Klar homered to left and drove in Jacob Mitchell (JR/Harker Heights, Texas ). The game ended with the Bobcats winning 14-7.

Diaz went 1-3, adding three RBIs. Klar also went 1-3 and added two RBIs. Matt Mihalov (SR/Conroe, Texas), Dayton and Chapa each had two hits. Starting pitcher Alec Martinez (JR/Corpus Christi, Texas) allowed eight earned runs on nine hits in 3.2 innings of work. Jose Ramirez III (JR/Donna, Texas) and Ty Cook (JR/Highlands, Texas) combined for 2.1 innings allowing four hits and two runs. Closer Diaz pitched 2 innings, facing six batters and striking out four.

Up next

With the loss to STU, the Saints are eliminated from the NAIA National Championship Opening Round. The Saints will begin their eighth season and fifth year under Aughney in 2022.