Box Score
SAN ANTONIO — After hitting a team-high 12 home runs as a freshman, St. Mary's outfielder
Taylor Vidrine entered Wednesday night homerless five games into her sophomore season.
Sophomore slump? Hardly.
Vidrine, a versatile threat capable of doing more than just hit for power, has shined through the start of the season. Still, Wednesday night had to feel good.
She blasted a line-drive, two-run blast over the left-field wall to spur a 8-3 rout of crosstown rival Incarnate Word in the backend of a doubleheader, helping the Rattlers redeem themselves from a 3-2, eight-inning Game 1 loss at the Northside ISD Softball Field.
“Coming into this season, I didn't play in the fall at all,” said Vidrine, citing an injury. “I knew I was going to get back into it. I had to break the seal and get that first one over with. Yes, I do hit home runs, but the team doesn't always need that. Today I bunted. I'm not always trying to hit home runs.
“But it was a good feeling.”
Vidrine was all over the stats sheet against UIW (4-3) in Game 2, going 3 for 3 with three runs scored, two RBIs, two stolen bases and a base on balls.
She bunted; she hit for power; she ran the bases. It was the kind of performance that embodied the spirit with which the Rattlers (4-3) fought on a night when pitcher
Vianna Gutierrez (So., San Antonio) struck out seven to improve to 1-2 on the season. First baseman
Laura Benavidez (So., Eagle Pass, Texas) helped Gutierrez's cause, adding three RBIs in her first start of the season.
But it was Vidrine's (So., San Antonio) shot that sparked a three-run first inning, which the Rattlers followed up with four more runs in the second to take a commanding 7-2 lead early. The second inning saw the Rattlers accrue four stolen bases – one from Vidrine, one from
Shelly Lee Zawadzki (Sr., San Antonio) and two from
Hannah Fields (Fr., San Antonio) — as St. Mary's poured it on against their longtime foe.
Game 1 was nearly as much fun for the Rattlers.
Down 2-0 with two away in the bottom of the seventh, shortstop
Sarah Perez blasted a towering, two-run shot to left field that cleared the scoreboard. But UIW struck back in the top of the eighth, creating a deficit St. Mary's could not overcome despite putting runners on the corners with two away in the bottom of the frame.
The Rattlers totaled just four hits in the opener, one of which came off
Nicole Sardelich's leadoff double, her team-leading fourth of the season. UIW broke a scoreless tie in the fourth before making it 2-0 in the fifth off a solo shot from Melanie Padilla.
Ace
Emily Brittain (Jr., Corpus Christi, Texas) got tagged with the loss, her first of the season, to fall to 2-1 on the year. She went the distance in the game, striking out six with no walks against UIW in a quality start.
The Rattlers will now move on to the Southeastern Regional Invitational, held from Friday-Sunday in Durant, Okla.
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.
