TEXARKANA, TEXAS (March 28-29, 2019) – Our Lady of the Lake University baseball started its three-game series with an unfortunate 15-7 loss, but the Saints came back to win the second game 5-1 on Thursday night. They closed out the series Friday afternoon with an exciting 11-inning game that resulted in a 6-5 win. The Saints are now 20-17 overall and 11-4 in the Red River Athletic Conference, while the Eagles drop to 21-17 overall and 9-6 in conference.

The Saints sit in second place in the conference only trailing LSU-Shreveport by a game and a half. Jarvis Christian College follows at one game behind the Saints with just two more series to go in the regular season.

Head Coach Bryan Aughney said, "Overall, it was a great week. A series win on the road against a good Texarkana team is always good.

"Game one, we made some miscues early and weren't able to bounce back. Game two, it was all about Aaron Gonzalez (JR/Houston, Texas). He threw great!  He had a complete game with 13 strikeouts, and we scored when we had chances. Game three was a great all-around team win. We had some substitutions late and guys came up with big hits, and we stuck with it. We had great performances from Joey Baker (JR/Cuero, Texas) and Ryan Ramsey (SR/Grapevine, Texas), plus big RBIs from Ryan Chapa (SO/Corpus Christi, Texas) and Boedy Flores (FR/Harlingen, Texas) in a pinch hit at bat. It was a great ending to a great week."

History

The Saints are 7-8 against the Eagles. Last season, the Saints won one game 1-0 and lost three, o-3, 3-6 and 5-10.

Game one overview

The Saints opened the game with a run from Matthew Klar (FR/San Antonio, Texas) after he reached on a walk.

With Logan Garza (SO/Round Rock, Texas) on the mound, the Eagles came on strong to score five quick runs in the first.

The Saints added another run in the third. Ryan Chapa was first up to bat, and he subsequently scored on a hit from Daniel Anciso (SR/Harlingen, Texas).

The Eagles put two more runs in the bottom of the third and fourth to increase their lead to 9-2.

The Saints threatened in the fifth after scoring three runs. With the bases loaded, Anciso went yard and Chapa and Klar came home to score. Jose Diaz (JR/Pinar del Rio, Cuba) was called out after he passed the runner in front of him.

Tony Esparza (JR/Spring, Texas) came in to relieve Garza in the fifth, and the Eagles scored four more runs to take the 13-5 lead. They scored two more runs in the sixth to lead 15-5.

Jose Diaz started a rally for the Saints in the seventh when he hit a double that sent TJ Kassner (SR/Corpus Christi, Texas) and Klar home. The game ended with the Eagles winning 15-7.

Anciso led the offense going 3-4 adding a run and four RBIs. Diaz went 1-2 and added three RBIs.

Logan Garza suffered the loss after going four innings, allowing 10 hits and nine runs.

Game two overview

The Saints were ready to battle at the beginning as they scored two quick runs. Klar hit a double, and a single from Diaz sent him home. Anciso reached on a fielder's choice and Diaz came home on an error from the third baseman.

Aaron Gonzalez started on the mound for the Saints in what would become an epic day for him. He would allow only one run in the entire game and it came in the bottom of the third.

The Saints continued to lead 2-0 through the ninth inning when they scored three runs. Nick Ludwig (SR/Tomball, Texas) hit a single and Andrew Ogletree (SO/Mission, Texas) and Jorge Collazo both scored. A single to center from Jacob Mitchell (SO/Harker Heights, Texas ) sent Ludwig home to give the Saints the 5-1 win.

Gonzalez pitched a complete game and allowed just two hits, one run and three walks while striking out 13.

Nick Ludwig led the offense going 2-2 adding one run and two RBIs. Klar went 2-3 and added one run.

Game three overview

The Saints came out strong again in the final game. Kassner started the offense with a hit, and Diaz tripled to send Kassner home. Anciso walked and Ogletree came in to pinch run. Ludwig hit a homer to send Ogletree home and the Saints led 3-0.

Triston Scherer (SO/Crosby, Texas) started on the mound for the Saints. His first outing resulted in one hit. The Saints came back to bat and a single from Kassner sent Jacob Montejano (FR/San Antonio, Texas) home to give the Saints the 4-0 lead.

The Eagles added a run in the second and the Saints continued to lead 4-1. The game stayed 4-1 through the sixth inning when the Eagles scored four runs to take the 5-4 lead.

With the game on the line at the top of the ninth, a hit from Boedy Flores sent the tying run, Ogletree, home. Jacob Mitchell started with a hit and he was later replaced by pinch-runner Ty Cook (SO/Highlands, Texas). Montejano hit a double and Chapa hit a sac-fly to score the winning run, Cook. The Eagles failed to score to close out the inning and the Saints won 6-5.

Ryan Ramsey earned the win after pitching 3.1 innings allowing one hit and striking out five.

Leading the offense was Kassner, Diaz, Mitchell and Montejano – all of whom had two hits each. Ludwig added two RBIs.

Up next

The Saints will play a nonconference game against St. Mary's University on April 2 at Dickinson Field on the campus of the Rattlers.