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Box Score 2
SAN ANTONIO — Four home runs, a run-rule and another victory Saturday certainly gave the Rattlers vengeance from their two losses from Friday's opening day of the St. Mary's Round Robin.
Day two of the Round Robin saw St. Mary's reclaim its losses against Lubbock Christian University and Tarleton State, winning 12-2 in a five-inning, run-rule triumph over LCU and claiming a 6-1 victory over Tarleton State.
Jared Gonzalez (Sr., San Antonio) fueled the run-rule in Game One, pelting two home runs for four RBIs, only to be matched by
Laura Benavidez (So., Robstown, Texas), who slammed a three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth to give St. Mary's (15-6) a ticket out of the last two innings and seal the double-digit victory.
Emily Brittian (Jr., Corpus Christi, Texas) pitched the complete game, improving to 6-2 on the season.
In their second game on the day, this time a rematch against Tarleton State (10-8), the Rattlers weren't quite done shelling out big hits.
Benavidez once again homered a three-run blast, pumping St. Mary's to a 5-0 lead over the TexAnns in the bottom of the first inning.
Vianna Gutierrez (So., San Antonio) was equally as effective on the mound, holding a no-hitter until the seventh inning. Gutierrez struck out 10 in her complete game, improving to 5-3 on the season and brining her strikeout count to 59.
Although the Rattlers played the same teams both days, LCU (13-5) and Tarleton State faced a different team of Rattlers on day two.
“I think yesterday we came out and we were a little tired,” said Gonzalez, who has three homers on the season. “It's never an excuse to be tired but I know that we were a little timid when we were playing. And these games we all said, 'You know what? Enough with being timid, enough with being scared. We're just going to go out there and play how we've been playing and remember how that feels. We've been hitting the ball really well and we just wanted to get back on that.”
The Rattlers' confidence and connection at the plate with the two victories Saturday could spark another streak, as St. Mary's went on a seven-game tear before entering the tournament.
St. Mary's will play Texas Woman's University Thursday in Denton, Texas at 5 p.m. in its next matchup.
St. Mary's University, as a Catholic Marianist University, fosters the formation of people in faith and educates leaders for the common good through community service, integrated liberal arts and professional education, and academic excellence. The University has six athletic national titles: men's basketball (1989–NAIA), baseball (2001–NCAA Div. II), softball (1986–NAIA and 2002–NCAA Div. II) and an individual national champion in men's golf (2006–NCAA Div. II) and a national academic championship in men's golf (2009–NCAA Div. II). St. Mary's also had more than 40 percent of its athletes named to conference, regional and/or national honor rolls this past year. St. Mary's student–athletes graduation rate is 65 percent, higher than the NCAA Division II average of 55 percent. To learn more about St. Mary's, visit www.rattlerathletics.com.
