The baseball team swept the four-game series against University of Houston-Victoria (UHV) on Friday and Saturday. The Saints improve to 11-8 overall and the Jaguars fall to 2-7.
Head Coach Bryan Aughney commented, “It’s always nice to get a sweep and that’s our goal at home. Our starting pitching all weekend was really good. Ram Maldonado (JR/McAllen, Texas), Jose Ramirez III (JR/Donna, Texas), Alec Martinez (JR/Corpus Christi, Texas) and Brett Vasquez (SO/Mont Belvieu, Texas) were all very good. We have been working on our approaches offensively and it showed this weekend. We were patient at the plate, and we put a lot of hard baseballs in play. It was a solid weekend to lead us into Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) play. We just need to continue to work and compete in every opportunity we have.”
History
The Saints and Jaguars are tied in the all-time series 12-12.
Game one
The Saints were on the brink of OLLU history in game one. They scored 19 runs in the victory, which is one short of the most runs scored in a single game in Saints history. OLLU tallied 19 hits and limited UHV to five. Starting pitcher Maldonado struck out six batters and allowed only one run.
The Saints had five different players with multiple hits. Robert Lopez (SR/San Antonio, Texas) and Joshua Colunga (SO/San Antonio, Texas) drove in three runs each. The bulk of the Saints runs came in the fourth inning with eight and the fifth inning with nine. OLLU won 19-1 and set the tone for the rest of the series.
Game two
The second game of the series was more competitive. OLLU led 2-0 after five innings after Mitchell and Dayton scored. The Jaguars tied the game in the seventh inning with two runs on two hits.
The Saints took back control of the game in the eighth inning. Robert Arredondo (JR/Corpus Christi, Texas) singled to center field with two outs to score Noah Rodriguez (SO/Victoria, Texas) and Matt Mihalov (SR/Conroe, Texas). OLLU held the lead and won 4-2. Ramirez pitched a spectacular game by allowing one hit in six innings.
Game three
Game three was similar to game two. The Saints led 3-0 after the third inning. The Jaguars scored one run in the sixth inning, but it wasn’t enough. Starting pitcher Martinez pitched a complete game and allowed four hits on one run.
Seven different Saints players tallied a hit and OLLU won 3-1. UHV’s starting pitcher Christian Garcia allowed seven hits in six innings of work.
Game four
The Saints closed the series in dominant fashion. They tallied 14 runs on 11 hits and one error. Starting pitcher Vasquez allowed only two hits in five innings of work. Adrian Gonzalez Jr. (JR/Weslaco, Texas) and Layne Klostermann (SO/Raymondville, Texas) pitched two innings each later in the game.
Jose Diaz (SR/Pinar del Rio, Cuba) smashed a home run and Jorge Collazo Jr. (JR/San Antonio, Texas) drove in three RBIs. Dayton and Lopez both batted 2-for-3 at the plate. The Saints won 14-5 to complete the sweep.
Up next
The Saints head to Seguin, Texas, to face Texas Lutheran University in a four-game series starting on March 16 at 3 p.m.
