- Box Score

SAN ANTONIO – The Tarleton team baseball faced tough competition in San Antonio on Tuesday and fell to No. 8 St. Mary's 8-2 in a South Central region showdown.

The Rattlers struck first with a pair of runs in the first inning.

The Texans responded with a run in the top of the second when Ethan Stuckly doubled to left, then scored on a Chris Patton RBI single to left.

St. Mary's quickly built on their lead with a three-run second, putting Tarleton in a tough position early in the game.

By the fifth inning, the Texans trailed 8-1.

Tarleton managed another run in the seventh inning to cut down on the deficit.  Stuckly reached base by drawing a hit by pitch.  After advancing on a Landon Thompson single and a groundout, Stuckly was plated on Andrew Wolfe's RBI single to left.

The Tarleton pitching was lights out down the stretch, but it wasn't enough to mount a comeback.

In the end, the Rattlers proved to be too much for the Texans as Tarleton fell 8-2.

Matt Buckmaster (1-1) was handed the loss after giving up two runs on three hits in one inning of work.  Tarleton used eight different pitchers in the game with Tanner Ross, Austin Coble, Taylor Christian, Joseph Aquino and Pete Perez tossing shutout innings.

Patton led the offense with a 2-for-3 day and an RBI while Wolfe provided the other RBI.

Head Coach Bryan Conger talked about his team's effort after the game.

"St. Mary's played well tonight," said Conger.  "They took advantage of our poor infield play and were able to put up some runs in the first couple of innings. We never did get going at the plate and that is something we will continue to work at.  We need to be more aggressive in our approach."

Next up, the Texans will head to Magnolia, Arkansas this weekend to take on Southern Arkansas.

For more information regarding the 2012 Tarleton baseball season, check out TarletonSports.com.