Box Score
LAS VEGAS — Sin City? More like Win City.
St. Mary's Softball wrapped up The Desert Stinger with another victory Sunday, this time eking out a 3-2 triumph over Chadron State thanks to
Laura Benavidez's go-ahead solo blast in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Benavidez's 2-for-3 afternoon and ace
Emily Brittain's routine excellence in the circle helped the Rattlers close out the tournament with a 4-1 mark, which included a big victory over No. 1-ranked Central Oklahoma back on the tournament's opening day.
Brittain pitched a complete game with three strikeouts to improve to 6-2 on the week. In Las Vegas, Brittain went 4-0 with a save over five appearances.
Already this season, St. Mary's (7-3) has beaten four Top 25-ranked teams. Terrific pitching, clutch hitting and power at the plate were once again critical on Sunday.
Amanda Villa's second-inning home run marked her third of the tournament to pull the Rattlers within a run at 2-1. In the fifth,
Katie Nichols drove in Villa on a sacrifice fly.
Benavidez's sixth-inning shot marked the Rattlers' 10
th dinger in as many games. Their opponents, by contrast, have amassed just a single home run this season.
St. Mary's will put its red-hot streak to test against Lubbock Christian in Heartland Conference-opening play next week. The three-game homestand begins with a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m. Friday at the Softball Stadium.
Tickets are available at
StMUTickets.com. Fans can also watch the games live online on the
Rattler Network.
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.
