SAN ANTONIO – Tarleton was swept Saturday afternoon by St. Mary's to fall to 2-4 on the young season after the first two series of the season.
 
"Obviously, this was not a good weekend for us," said head coach Bryan Conger. "We can still be a good team and the coaching staff still believes in this group. We just need to buckle down on some fundamental things and we will be fine."
   
Tarleton suffered its first shutout of the season to open Saturday's twin bill at Dickson Stadium as the Texans were held to just three base hits for the game.
 
Kurt Johnson took the loss, allowing two runs in three innings of work with three strikeouts. He turned things over to the bullpen, who immediately got 1.2 innings from Case Rolen with three strikeouts. Derek Martin tossed one inning while Sid Payan made his collegiate debut to get the final out for Tarleton.
 
Offensively, Tarleton got hits from Blake Adams, Francisco Rodriguez, and Tyler Fowler scattered throughout the seven-inning affair.
 
Meanwhile, St. Mary's scored two in the second, one in the fifth, and three in the sixth while the Rattlers got another complete game from their starting pitcher.
   
St. Mary's completed the weekend sweep of Tarleton with an 8-4 win in the nightcap.
 
The Rattlers scored first in the bottom of the first on a double and single, but Tarleton had an answer two innings later when Francisco Rodriguez teed off for his first home run of the season – a three-run shot to left for a 3-1 Tarleton lead.
 
Tarleton held the lead until the fourth when St. Mary's put up a two spot in the fourth and three in the fifth to take a 6-3 lead. After Tarleton scored one more in the seventh on a sacrifice fly from Jared McCarver, the Rattlers tacked on the final two runs of the series in the eighth to cap off the weekend.
 
Nathan Hickey was saddled with the loss after throwing 4.2 innings and allowing six runs – only two earned – on nine hits and a walk while striking out five. Conner Fletcher threw the rest of the game and allowed two unearned runs.
 
Tarleton got seven hits in the game, including two from Jake Hasbrouck while the top five guys in the batting order – Blake Adams, Ruben Rodriguez, Francisco Rodriguez, McCarver, and Tyler Fowler – had one hit each.
 
Tarleton will return to Stephenville next weekend for its home-opening series against Arlington Baptist, beginning Friday at 3 p.m.