Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 SAN ANTONIO (April 22, 2016) – Lane Paul had four RBIs, two on a home run in a four-run sixth inning, and Oklahoma Christian held off St. Mary's (Texas) 8-4 on Friday night to earn a split of a doubleheader at Dickson Stadium.

The Rattlers rallied from a 4-2 deficit to beat OC 5-4 in the opener of a key three-game Heartland Conference baseball series, one with potential postseason ramifications for both teams. The series finale will be at 1 p.m. Saturday.

OC (25-16, 14-6) remained in third place in the Heartland standings, but fell two games behind league-leading St. Edward's (Texas). The Eagles are one game behind second-place Lubbock Christian (Texas), which split a doubleheader Friday at Rogers State.

Meanwhile, traditional Heartland power St. Mary's (25-18, 10-10) is fighting just to make the four-team conference tournament. The Rattlers are a game behind fourth-place Newman (Kan.).

OC entered the series at No. 8 in the NCAA Division II South Central Region rankings, while St. Mary's was at No. 10. Six teams will qualify for the regional tournament.

The Eagles trailed 2-1 entering the sixth inning of the second game. OC's Robert Rosser drew a leadoff walk from St. Mary's starter Oscar Sepulveda (2-2) and with one out, Kyle Lacy singled. Rosser then stole third base and both runners scored on a double to left field by Jared Sterling. Paul followed with his third home run of the season to put the Eagles ahead 5-2.

St. Mary's pulled within 5-4 in the seventh, on Jack Kaiser's two-run double. OC quickly responded with a two-run eighth. Lacy and Ben McKenzie hit consecutive doubles to make it 6-4, and McKenzie scored on a single up the middle by Paul.

The Eagles added another insurance run in the ninth, as Rosser singled and later scored on a single by McKenzie.

OC starter Dylan Fazekas (3-3) struck out six batters in 6 1/3 innings and reliever Garett Hill took it from there, allowing only two hits in 2 2/3 innings to earn his first save of the season.

The Eagles led the first game 4-2 after a three-run fifth inning, keyed by a squeeze bunt by Austin Orth and a two-run homer by Alex Polston, but a two-run single by Beau Barnes tied the game for St. Mary's in the bottom of the inning.

In the bottom of the seventh, OC reliever Dylon Sturges (1-1) walked Matt Smith to start the inning. Closer Jake Moore then entered for OC, but he walked Kaiser and a wild pitch allowed both runners to move up a base.

The Eagles intentionally walked Donnie Perez to load the bases, brought an outfielder into the infield and pulled in the other infielders, hoping to keep any batted ball in the infield. But Zach Johnson singled up the middle to score Smith with the winning run for St. Mary's.

St. Mary's reliever Trent Rousseau (2-1) picked up the pitching win with 1 1/3 innings of work.