Box Score
DENTON, Texas — Three was not the Rattlers' charm Thursday.
Yielding three runs in the third inning, St. Mary's Softball created a hole, no matter how small, it couldn't quite get out of in a 3-2 loss to Texas Woman's.
The Rattlers scattered runs over the first two innings but saw their offense — and their 2-0 lead — dry up despite totaling 10 hits in the game.
Vianna Gutierrez (So., San Antonio), the two-time reigning Heartland Conference Pitcher of the Week and this week's Hitter of the Week, picked up the loss despite striking out six on the evening.
Right fielder
Shelly Lee Zawadzki (Sr., San Antonio) and third baseman
Nicole Sardelich (So., Angleton, Texas) each had an RBI on the day, with Sardelich's single up the middle giving St. Mary's (15-7) a 2-0 lead in the second inning.
But after scoring two runs on six hits off starter Larisa Garcia, the Rattlers couldn't keep up their momentum against reliever Katie Hines, who picked up the win with five strikeouts in four innings.
St. Mary's first baseman
Jared Gonzalez (Sr., San Antonio) went 3 for 3 on the day, while shortstop
Sarah Perez (Sr., San Marcos, Texas) also had a multi-hit day with two.
Texas Woman's struck in the third with an RBI double from Amanda Ruiz that cut its deficit to 2-1 before scoring twice more on wild pitches.
St. Mary's will move on Friday to play in the Midwestern State Tournament, with an 11 a.m. game against Northeastern State at 11 a.m. in Wichita Falls, Texas.
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.
