Box Score
CANYON, Texas — St. Mary's Softball won its 10th straight Sunday, and in doing so made quite the statement.
The Rattlers upended No. 5 West Texas A&M 4-2 behind eight strikeouts from ace
Emily Brittain and a two-run blast from
Christina Rodriguez.
Rodriguez's third-inning homer broke a 1-1 deadlock, giving the Rattlers (38-12) a 3-1 lead that would swell to 4-1 when
Nicole Sardelich doubled to drive in
Hannah Fields in the fourth.
St. Mary's gave back a run in the seventh, but
Vianna Gutierrez came in to shut things down in the circle, recording the final out with the bases loaded.
St. Mary's, ranked sixth in the regional rankings, could shoot up the charts after beating the South Central region's top-ranked team.
Shelly Lee Zawadzki, who batted .800 for the week, went 3 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored, while Fields also recorded a multi-hit day by going 2 for 3.
Improving to 23-4 on the year, Brittain pitched 6 1/3 inings before giving way to Gutierrez, who collected her first save of the year.
Sardelich's double gives her 23 on the season, one off the St. Mary's school record of 24, set by Kym Kling during the NCAA Division II championship-winning season in 2002.
Following Sunday's non-conference victory, the Rattlers will gear up to play St. Edward's in a winner-takes-all series for the Heartland Conference regular-season crown. The Rattlers, 12-0 in conference play, lead the Hilltoppers (11-1) by one game.
The series will get underway at 1 p.m. Saturday at the SAISD Sports Complex.
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.
