Oklahoma Panhandle State University

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | Box Score 3 Goodwell, Okla.—The Aggies faced tough competition Friday and Saturday with a three-game conference series against the nationally-ranked Rattlers of St. Mary's University. No. 8 SMU claimed all three games to remain undefeated in the Heartland Conference.

Walker Rainwater put up a great effort in game one of Friday's doubleheader going up against the number two pitcher in the conference ranks, Matt McClain of St. Mary's; both threw a complete seven innings with McClain earning his fifth win of the season in the 6-0 shutout.

Rainwater struck out three batters and, with the help of the Aggie defense, held the Rattlers to two hits and one run through the first three innings of play. St. Mary's put on a hitting display in the fourth scoring five runs on four hits and three OPSU errors.

The Aggies collected themselves defensively and would not give up one hit to the Rattlers in the remaining three innings. McClain allowed just two hits to the Aggies in the game; a single by Jordan Sprouse in the third and one single by Payton Osbon in the sixth.

Sam Beattie took the mound in game two and did a good job of controlling the Rattlers in his four innings of work. Beattie gave up just one run in four hits and tossed four strikeouts before being replaced by Brett Nasello in the top of the fifth.

The Aggies jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first when Nick Crosswhite smoked a home run over left field for two RBI. Sam Moreno upped the score with a single in the third inning to pull the Aggies ahead 3-0. The Rattlers took advantage of the pitching change in the fifth and drove in one run on a double off Nasello; with two runners on base and no outs Scott Cutright came in to relieve Nasello. The next batter took a three-run homer over the fence to give swing the lead to the Rattlers 4-3.

Cutright finished the inning and stayed in for one out in the top of the sixth when freshman Jonny Mireles entered the game with runners on first and third; his first batter hit into a double play (2B to 1B) to end the inning. The Rattlers scored their final run in the seventh on a lead-off homer, the only hit allowed by Mireles.

B.J. Henry came in to pitch the top of the eighth and closed out the game with one hit for zero runs; he struck out two in two innings. SMU's Kris Gardner earned the 5-3 win in 6.1 innings allowing 10 hits and three earned runs; Oscar Sepulveda got his third save as he entered the game with one out in the seventh and held the Aggies to two hits for zero runs. Cutright took the loss for the Aggies.

St. Mary's sealed the series on Saturday with a 9-0 shutout for their third straight sweep of a Heartland opponent. Senior Zack Tingen went to work on the mound for the Aggies and managed the Rattlers through four innings, allowing two runs in the first and just one hit over the following three innings. A two-run homer in the fifth put the Rattlers up 4-0.

Tingen gave up one hit in the sixth and was replaced by Brayden Schuler after putting two on base with one out in the top of the seventh. Two runs came through for St. Mary's on Schuler's watch and Logan Litton entered the game in the eighth after a walk and a double put Rattler runners on base with one out. Litton closed out the inning with zero hits and zero runs. Felipe Beltran took the mound for OPSU in the ninth and did his job allowing zero hits and zero runs.

The Aggie batters had a tough time against Rattler pitcher Cody Butler who gave up just three hits in 6.2 innings. Lucas Ogaz and Payton Osbon each hit singles and Jordan Sprouse got away with a triple to right center in the fifth inning. Butler earned his fifth win for St. Mary's with the help of reliever Connor Camacho who came in with two outs in the seventh and finished the game with no hits.

Sprouse led the Aggies in hitting for the series averaging .625 batting with a .875 slugging percentage; he went five of eight for the series and had six putouts and six assists at short stop. First baseman Nick Crosswhite led the team in RBI with two and totaled 27 putouts. The Aggies totaled 17 hits on the weekend with the pitching crew tossing a combined 12 strikeouts.

Head Coach Jason Miner responded on the series, "It was a tough weekend for us. We have to be able to put together a game where we can have good pitching, hitting and fielding in the same game. St. Mary's has a good team. We just have to get to work to try to get back on track."

The Aggies are now 3-23 on the season and hold two wins in the Heartland Conference. The team will be on the road this week for a single game against Wayland Baptist in Plainview, Texas March 25 and a three-game conference series against Texas A&M-International in Laredo March 27-28. Aggie fans can mark their calendars for Tuesday, March 31 when the team returns home for a single game against Wayland Baptist; a free cookout will take place during the game which beings at 3 p.m.