CLAREMORE, Okla. – The Rogers State baseball team fell, 6-3, in the Heartland Conference opener against St. Mary's on Thursday (March 9) at the Diamond Sports Complex. With the loss, the Hillcats' five-game winning streak was snapped.
 
The Rattlers (7-11, 1-0 Heartland) pounced on the Cats early with five runs in the first inning. With runners at the corners after a single and a double, StMU drove in two runs with a double to the wall in center. The lead increased to 3-0 with a single down the line in left to up the advantage. After loading the bases, the Rattlers added one run due to an RSU error, and the edge grew to 5-0 on a wild pitch.
 
StMU upped the margin to 6-0 with a solo home run from Beau Barnes in the third inning.
 
The navy and red scored three runs in the fifth, but couldn't rally in the loss. Lead-off hitter Matt Seubert opened the scoring with an infield single to score Brooks Douglas. Bradley Degnan plated two runs with a double to right to bring home Seubert and Sam Casinelli.
 
RSU had an early opportunity in the second inning as the Cats loaded up the bases with no outs. However, the Rattlers used a double play to keep the navy and red scoreless, and the inning ended on a fielder's choice for the third out.
 
Seubert went 2-for-5 with one RBI.
 
Tim Luce started and fell to 2-2 on the season. The junior from Claremore went 6.2 innings and allowed four earned runs on nine hits. He posted three strikeouts.
 
Holden Grounds pitched the complete game for the Rattlers, allowing six hits and three runs, all earned. He tallied seven strikeouts with 121 pitches thrown.
 
The Hillcats and Rattlers finish the three-game series with a doubleheader tomorrow (March 10) at 1 p.m. at the Diamond Sports Complex. Video, audio and stats will be available on the Hillcat Network at www.rsuhillcats.com/live.