Leavenworth, Kan.—A crushing eight-run first inning put the Spires in an early hole they could not escape as USM fell 13-3 to Ottawa on Tuesday morning at USM Baseball Field.

The Braves sent 12 batters to the plate in the opening frame, stringing together extra-base hits and run-scoring AB's to seize control before Saint Mary's offense could settle in. Vega delivered the biggest early blow with a three-run double to left-center that pushed Ottawa's lead to 4-0. Moments later, Rodriguez added a solo home run as part of the same outburst, and two more runs came in on a Ryan RBI ground out and a run-scoring single from Snead to make it 8-0 after the top of the first.

USM starter Gabriel Olguin bore the brunt of that first-inning surge as Ottawa consistently found gaps and elevated the ball to the outfield. OU added two more runs in the second, with Rodriguez singling home Vega and another run crossing to extend the margin to 10-0. The Spires' pitching staff was forced to work under pressure throughout, ultimately allowing 15 hits, 13 runs and five walks over seven innings, though the defense played cleanly without committing an error.

The Spires began to chip away in the middle innings. In the fourth, USM broke through when Saul Vazquez-Alvarado came home on a sacrifice fly by Ben Brandt to cut the deficit to 10-1. After the Braves pushed the lead to 12-1 in the fifth on RBI singles from Ryan and Snead and tacked on another run in the sixth on a Franz double, Saint Mary answered with its best offensive inning of the day. In the bottom of the sixth, Sergio Fierro drilled a double that drove in two runs, trimming the score to 13-3 and giving the Spires a brief jolt of momentum.

 Offensively, the Spires finished with six hits, including Fierro's two-run double and a pair of extra-base hits overall, and drew three walks while leaving five runners on base. The Spires were held to single runs in the fourth and sixth innings and were unable to generate the multi-hit rally needed to counter Ottawa's early offensive surge. The Spire hitters struck out just three times against a staff that filled up the strike zone, but Ottawa's pitchers limited sustained traffic and avoided big innings.

Ottawa starter Johnson worked efficiently with a big lead, covering 5.0 innings and allowing one run on three hits. The Braves' staff combined for seven innings, three runs allowed and three strikeouts. On the other side, Saint Mary's staff had to navigate constant pressure while trying to contain an Ottawa lineup that produced four doubles, one home run and four stolen bases.

USM will hit the road this Saturday, March 14^th and Sunday, March 15^th as they travel to the home turf of the McPherson College Bulldogs with Saturday's double header set to begin at noon and Sunday's single game slated for 1:00 p.m.