HOUSTON, Texas – The No. 19-ranked Arkansas Tech baseball team dropped their first game of the 2022 season as they fell in the final day of the Houston Winter Invitational to St. Mary's by a score of 4-2 on Sunday evening inside Minute Maid Park.
 
The Wonder Boys (4-1) fell behind early in the game as St. Mary's scored three runs on four hits in the top of the second inning. The big blow in the inning was a two-out, two-RBI double down the right field line.
 
That early 3-0 score held until the top of the eighth when St. Mary's added a run of insurance in the top of the eighth, making it a 4-0 game in favor of the Rattlers (3-3) at the time.
 
After not scoring in the bottom of the eighth, the Wonder Boys needed to score four runs in the bottom of the ninth to keep the game going.
 
Work towards that goal got off to a great start as the Wonder Boys loaded the bases with no outs on three-consecutive singles. Ommar Jackson had the first of those hits followed by Trace Maddux. Yadier Medina registered the third hit to bring the potential tying run to the plate.
 
Following a strikeout for the first out, the Wonder Boys got on the board for the first time as Jackson scored on a wild pitch. Two batters later, Landon Lord had a clutch RBI single through the left side to score Maddux and make it a 4-2 game.
 
The ninth inning rally by the Wonder Boys would end there, however, as the Rattlers got a strikeout for the final out of the game.
 
The Wonder Boys will now prepare to open up Great American Conference play this coming weekend as they take to the road to take on Southeastern Oklahoma. The three-game series is set to begin at 2 p.m. on Friday, February 18.