Our Lady of the Lake battled until the final out but came up just short in a 3-2 loss to Huston-Tillotson, as early runs proved to be the difference despite a resilient effort from the Saints pitching staff and flashes of timely hitting.
The tone of the afternoon was set in the opening frames when Huston-Tillotson capitalized on its early opportunities. Mason Krahn drew the start for OLLU and worked through traffic, but the Rams strung together three runs in the first two innings. Tucker Allen led the charge, finishing 2-for-4 with a triple and an RBI. Noah Alvarez added an RBI of his own, and Danny Hernandez lifted a sacrifice fly to account for the third run. Huston-Tillotson managed six hits on the day, but their ability to convert early chances ultimately separated the two clubs.
From that point forward, OLLU’s pitching steadied the contest and gave the Saints every opportunity to rally. Josh Ruiz delivered a dominant relief appearance, tossing 5 scoreless innings while striking out nine and allowing just two hits. Ethan Garza followed with two shutout frames, fanning three more. Together, the trio limited the Rams to six hits and struck out 14 batters, keeping the deficit within reach throughout the afternoon.
Offensively, the Saints found momentum midway through the game. Christian Martinez sparked the lineup with a 2-for-3 performance, including a double, and scored one of OLLU’s two runs. Carlos Gusman showcased patience at the plate, drawing two walks and crossing home as well. The Saints finished with five hits and worked four walks, pressuring the Rams’ bullpen in the later innings.
After Nathaniel Davila held OLLU to two hits across five scoreless innings with six strikeouts, the Saints broke through against reliever Adrian German. Taking advantage of defensive miscues, OLLU pushed across two unearned runs to narrow the margin to one. However, despite placing runners on base and threatening late, the Saints stranded seven and were unable to deliver the tying hit.
Benjamin Hovda and Jacob Cueva each contributed a hit, while CaliEvan Billela-Barstow added another and swiped a base to ignite a late push. Still, the Rams bullpen combination of Chris Rodriguez and Evan Mendoza closed the door, striking out three over the final 2 innings to secure the narrow victory.
The Saints will be back in action this Friday at 2:00 PM CDT against John Melvin University in a weekend series.