Box Score
SAN ANTONIO — Two Rattlers went perfect at the plate against the University of Texas-Permian Basin Friday, while
Emily Brittain excelled on the mound to record her second shutout on the season in the 7-0 win.
It was a sophomore power Friday as
Taylor Vidrine (San Antonio) and
Haley Richter (Hondo, Texas) both batted 1.000 in the shutout, with Vidrine going 4 for 4 and Richter 3 for 3 to make up the bulk of the Rattlers' 13-hit victory.
Richter has been on a tear for the Rattlers this season filling in at first base, already surpassing her playing time as a freshman and hitting her first collegiate home run — a grand slam — earlier this season. Friday, the sophomore recorded nine putouts and knocked in two RBIs to tie for the team-high along with
Sarah Perez (Sr., San Marcos, Texas).
“I've really just be given the opportunity to step up,” said Richter of her success this season. “And I've been making the most of it and helping out the team. It's been a great experience and I'm getting to see the ball more and making contact with it. Hopefully, I can keep it up.”
Richter, who is batting .416 on the season, and her power at the plate Friday helped propel the Rattlers to their fourth straight Heartland Conference victory, improving to 26-10 on the season and 4-0 in league play.
An RBI-triple from Vidrine put the Rattlers on the board early in the first, followed by a sacrifice fly from
Christina Rodriguez (Sr., San Antonio). A four-run third inning created a 6-0 gap over the Falcons (8-21, 4-3 in conference), backed by a two-RBI single from Richter. Perez added another RBI-single and would later steal home for the final run in the inning. The Rattlers scored once more in the fifth with yet another RBI-single from Perez.
With conference play now in full swing, Richter and the Rattlers feel more than prepared after putting in plenty of work in non-conference play for the first part of the season.
“Now it's kind of nice to sit back and relax because we're not playing five to six games a weekend,” Richter said. “We're only playing three now, so it gives us an opportunity to really focus on these conference games.”
Providing a major leg in the Rattlers' perfect conference record has been ace Brittain, who tossed a complete-game shutout Friday. Brittain (Jr., Corpus Christi, Texas) struck out four in the contest and walked none to improve to 15-3 on the season.
St. Mary's finishes up its three-game series with UTPB with a doubleheader Saturday starting at 12 p.m. at Northside ISD Stadium.
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.
