OKLAHOMA CITY (May 14, 2021) – Oklahoma Christian seemed all out of sorts on Friday in its Lone Star Conference baseball tournament series opener against St. Mary's (Texas) and the Rattlers took full advantage.

St. Mary's hit OC with a four-run haymaker in the second inning and the Eagles never recovered, falling 16-3 at Dobson Field in their first postseason game since 2016.

OC (24-15) will need to win twice against St. Mary's (23-18) on Saturday if the Eagles want to keep their season alive and advance to the second stage of the LSC tournament. Game two of the series will begin at 1 p.m., with a third game to follow if necessary.

The Rattlers scored their 16 runs on 12 hits as four OC pitchers combined to walk nine batters, hit three others and throw two wild pitches. Meanwhile, OC – playing without the LSC's leading hitter, Chance Westervelt, due to injury – managed only seven hits and didn't score until St. Mary's already had built a 13-run lead.

Brian Juarez's first home run of the season for St. Mary's was a three-run shot in the second inning off OC starter Gabe Rodery (8-1), the Eagles' left-handed senior workhorse. Rodery fanned seven batters but didn't make it out of the fifth inning in what probably was his last start at home in his brilliant career. With 23, Rodery is believed to have recorded the most career wins by an OC pitcher since the 1970s.

St. Mary's tacked on three more runs in the fifth inning to make it 7-0 and scored six more in the seventh, three on Brandon Broughton's bases-loaded triple. Jaren Hill's two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh scored Errett Edwards and put the Eagles on the board, but the Rattlers tacked on three more runs over the final two innings.

Tanner White's RBI double down the left-field line in the eighth drove in Michael DiFiore with OC's only other run.

St. Mary's starter Dylan Bells (7-1) pitched eight innings, striking out seven, to earn the win.