SAN ANTONIO (Feb. 7, 2022) – After managing only four runs in its first three baseball games against Oklahoma Christian, St. Mary's (Texas) finally busted out offensively on Monday, and not even OC's vaunted bats proved able to keep up.

St. Mary's jumped to a 5-0 lead in the first four innings, held off OC's attempts at a rally and eventually won 10-5 in the finale of the four-game series at Dickson Stadium.

Despite the loss, OC (3-1, 3-1 Lone Star Conference) ended the first week of the season in a three-way tie for the LSC lead with two other unlikely candidates to be in that spot, St. Edward's (Texas) and Texas A&M International.

Ryan McGowan's two-run double keyed the Rattlers' three-run second inning against OC starter Will Rodman (0-1), and Brian Juarez and Clay Bradford added solo home runs for St. Mary's (1-3, 1-3) in the third and fourth innings, respectively. Rodman, a freshman, allowed four hits and five runs (but only two earned) in five innings of work.

OC scored three runs in the top of the fifth, two on a double by Tanner White, who drove in nine runs during the series. But the Rattlers took advantage of two OC errors to score twice in the sixth to make it 7-3. Grant Lake's RBI single was part of a two-run rally by the Eagles in the top of the eighth inning, pulling them within 7-5 before St. Mary's put away the game with three runs in the bottom of the inning.

Karlo Kalifa (1-0), the third of four pitchers used by St. Mary's picked up the win.

Kevin Collyar, with two hits, was the only OC player with more than one. The Eagles did outhit St. Mary's 9-8 but left 11 runners on base.

OC will host Lubbock Christian (Texas) in another four-game LSC series starting Friday at Dobson Field.