Box Score WICHITA – Just two runs separated the Rattlers and Jets on the day as Newman dropped two tough games to St. Mary's 1-0 and 4-3 Friday afternoon at McCarthy Field.  Seemingly every break went for the Rattlers as the Jets couldn't find the big hit they needed to break the game open.
 
Game 1: St. Mary's 1, Newman 0
Game one of the doubleheader featured a fierce pitching duel, with both starters going the distance in the shortened seven inning game.  Newman starter Zak Mickens pitched masterfully, allowing just four hits and one unearned run in the tough luck loss.  Mickens struck out four and walked two, and held the Rattlers hitless into the fifth inning.
 
Though the Jets had runners in scoring position in three of the first four innings, they could not cash in on the opportunities and take the lead.  Their biggest threat would come in the bottom of the fifth, when Christian Dye got things rolling with a two-out double to right center.  After Dye advanced to third on a wild pitch, Jarrod Flax and Terrell Brown both drew walks to load up the bases.  St. Mary's starter Carl O'Neil got Ricky Sanchez to pop up to second base to end the threat, and the score was still deadlocked at 0-0 through five innings.
 
The Rattlers finally broke the tie in the top of the seventh inning, with timely two-out hitting as the key.  After Ivan Sigala singled with one out and advanced to second on a groundout, Al Gonzalez smacked a single into left field that took a funny bounce on Sanchez in left field and allowed Sigala to score, putting the Rattlers up 1-0. 
 
The slim margin was all that O'Neil needed, as he retired the final six Jets that he faced to seal the game for St. Mary's.
 
Game 2 (F/10): St. Mary's 4, Newman 3
Both teams had chances to score early in the game, but defense prevailed and the first three innings passed without any scoring.  St. Mary's drew first blood in the top of the fourth, taking advantage of a Jet fielding error and using two hits to score three runs, taking a 3-0 advantage into the bottom of the fourth.  
 
Newman would not go down quietly, though, and the Jets punched back in the bottom of the sixth.  Christian Dye drew a leadoff walk to start the inning off, then stole second base to get the Jets rolling with the top of the lineup coming up.  Dye then advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on another one two pitches later to get the Jets on the board and cut the Rattler lead to 3-1.  Terrell Brown doubled down the right field line and advanced to third on yet another wild pitch, setting up the RBI opportunity for Ruben Marrero.  With two men down and a 1-2 count, Marrero laced a single into right field to plate Brown and cut the deficit to one, and the Jets trailed 3-2 going into the top of the seventh inning. 
 
The score would remain 3-2 until the bottom of the eighth, where the Jets would tie the game up.  After Ricky Sanchez singled to left with one down, he moved up to second on a passed ball and then over to third base on a groundout.  John Branum worked the count to 3-2 before lining a ball over the shortstop's head to score Sanchez and tie the game up at 3-3.  Both teams threatened to score in the ninth inning, with the Jets loading the bases in the bottom of the ninth and two men down, but Rattler shortstop Ivan Sigala picked a ball in the 5-6 hole and whipped it across the diamond to nail Sanchez by a split second and send the game into extras.
 
St. Mary's didn't waste any time responding in the tenth, getting two men on with walks to put runners at first and second with one out.  The cleanup batter then smacked a double into the right center gap to score the runner from second, putting the Rattlers up 4-3.  Ruben Marrero singled to lead off the bottom of the inning for the Jets, but after a strikeout Rattlers' closer Jonathan Perez induced a game-ending double play ball to end the threat.
 
With the losses, the Jets fall to 12-13 (9-11 Heartland).  Newman will look to get back to their winning ways tomorrow when they wrap up this series at noon back at McCarthy Field.