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Box Score 2
SAN ANTONIO — One by one, St. Mary's senior
Crystal Keller is accomplishing all of her goals this season.
One of which was claiming the Heartland Conference regular-season championship with her team and earning the right to host the tournament. The Rattlers achieved that Saturday, winning the pivotal series with rival St. Edward's with two wins in Saturday's doubleheader.
St. Mary's took the opener 5-2 and won a tight Game Two 2-0. With the two victories, the Rattlers sealed their four-straight conference championship.
Also making headlines was
Nicole Sardelich (So., Angleton, Texas), who both tied and broke an 11-year-old St. Mary's record for most doubles in a single season. Sardelich smacked two doubles in Game 1 to tie the record at 24 and break the mark at 25. All-American Kym Kling formerly held the record at 24, set in the 2002 season. As a freshman last season, Sardelich tied for the third-most doubles in a season at 17, and at only two seasons deep in her career Sardelich is already sixth in the school's record book for most career doubles at 39. Kling holds the record for most career doubles at 60.
Sardelich's blasts helped the Rattlers to a two-run first inning to quickly silence the rival as the Battle of the Saints clashed in the title series.
Shelly Lee Zawadzki (Sr., San Antonio) and
Jared Gonzalez (Sr., San Antonio) also recorded doubles, while Zawadzki led with two RBIs.
Emily Brittain (Jr., Corpus Christi, Texas) went 5 1/3 innings for the win with one strikeout to improve to 24-4 on the season. Keller (Sr., LaCoste, Texas) closed it out with 1 1/3 innings for her fourth save on the season. Keller would also protect the hill again in Game 2 for her fifth save.
This season, Keller has become a dominant force on the mound for the Rattlers, stepping up from her closer status to also serve as starter with a 6-1 record. With five saves also to her name, Keller's 1.94 ERA completes her cycle of career-bests. Keller has bested all of her previous stats of win-loss records, ERA and saves.
“Coming into this season I knew I wanted to have a really good season since it's my last year,” said Keller, who has 49 strikeouts so far in her final season. “So I set a few goals for myself. One of them was to have a winning record and also to have a better ERA this year. I feel like every practice I've just been working towards that. Coach (Haley) Long has helped a lot with pitch calling and I have a lot of confidence in her, so I think that's made the difference.”
After a rain delay put the Rattlers' sweep on hold in Game 2 as they clung to a slim 1-0 lead, Zawadzki stole third to round home after a Hilltopper throwing error gave the Rattlers a 2-0 cushion in the sixth.
As the Hilltoppers (27-19, 11-3 in conference) knew the stakes of the series and their own chance at the title and host, the game was still on edge as they put up a fight late. But Keller emphatically ended the duel, striking out the last Hilltopper to clinch the championship.
“We are so excited,” said Keller. “That was the one thing we wanted, to come out of here with the home-field advantage for conference tournament. I feel like it's just going to give us a lot more confidence and help us relax and play well.”
Zawadzki picked up two stolen bases in Game 2 while
Maricela Bissaro (Jr., San Antonio) recorded the win. Bissaro improved to 5-2 on the season in five innings tossed.
The Rattlers remain perfect in conference play at 14-0 with Saturday's wins and improved to 40-12 overall.
St. Mary's completes the series with St. Edward's on Senior Day at 12 p.m. Sunday at San Antonio ISD 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.
