Box Score
SAN ANTONIO — St. Mary's
Jared Gonzalez stepped to the plate in the fourth inning Friday merely looking to get something to drop in left field.
Instead, she blasted a two-run shot that changed the game — and launched the Rattlers into Saturday's Heartland Conference Tournament championship game.
Gonzalez,
Haley Richter and
Alex Rodriguez launched back-to-back-to-back home runs — all into the wind and with two outs — as the Rattlers jumped on St. Edward's 6-2 in the second round of the Heartland Tournament at the SAISD Sports Complex.
With the victory, the top-seeded Rattlers (42-13) earned a spot in the Heartland championship game, where they will face No. 2-seed St. Edward's again at Noon Saturday. The Hilltoppers won their way back into the title game with a victory later in the day Friday, stomping Texas A&M International 8-0 in six innings.
“Oh, my gosh. Words can't explain it,” said Gonzalez (Sr., San Antonio) of the fourth inning. “With the win, I was just trying to make contact and have it drop. I didn't know I was going to go in there and actually knock the ball over the fence.”
Gonzalez, making an early run at the tournament's Most Outstanding Player award, has five RBIs through the tournament's first two games.
Emily Brittain (Jr., Corpus Christi, Texas) got the victory in the circle to improve to 25-4 on the season. Pitching the complete game, the Heartland Conference Co-Pitcher of the Year struck out three and walked none.
Rodriguez led the Rattlers with two hits in three at-bats, while Gonzalez's two RBIs led the team in that category. Seven different Rattlers recorded a hit in the game, as they outhit the Hilltoppers 8-6.
It all sets the stage for what should be a fantastic championship game Saturday. St. Mary's can clinch the title with one victory, while St. Edward's, having advanced from the loser's bracket, needs to win two games, including the “if” game.
“Oh, we're ready,” Gonzalez said. “We've worked really, really hard this year, especially with a lot of injuries. It's been mentally tough on us. But I feel like when adversity happens it makes you that better as a team.”
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.
