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Box Score 2
DENTON, Texas — St. Mary's Softball's illustrious history includes two national championships, three NCAA Division II regional titles and 10 40-plus-win seasons.
But never before have the Rattlers had this kind of start.
Extending their winning streak to 15 in a row and making it 29 victories in their last 30 games, the No. 7-ranked Rattlers swept No. 18 Texas Woman's 10-7, 8-0 in Tuesday's non-conference doubleheader at Pioneer Field.
The victories improved St. Mary's overall record to 33-4, marking the best start in program history. The Rattlers, who have now won 33 or more games in 17 of the past 18 seasons, are also a league-best 9-0 in Heartland Conference play.
First baseman
Haley Richter led the Rattlers' charge with four RBIs on a 4-for-8 day at the plate.
Laura Benavidez added three RBIs on a 4-for-7 showing, while
Emily Brittain pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout for her 17
th victory in Game 2.
Maricela Bissaro picked up the Game 1 win after pitching three scoreless innings in relief, allowing one hit to improve to 6-0 on the season.
Before taking Game 2 in a five-inning run rule, the Rattlers required a little more drama in winning Game 1 — a game in which seven was truly their lucky number.
St. Mary's, ranked seventh nationally, scored seven runs in a wild sixth inning, coming back from a 5-0 first-inning deficit.
But the Rattlers never panicked, despite later trailing 7-2 in the fourth. St. Mary's tacked on a run in the fifth before exploding for seven in the sixth.
St. Mary's made things less interesting in the second game, scoring seven in the second inning to take a quick 7-0 lead.
Alex Rodriguez's RBI single made it 8-0 in the fifth to end it early.
The Rattlers will return to action Friday, when they travel to Odessa, Texas to take on Texas-Permian Basin for a three-game series. The series starts with a doubleheader at 2 p.m. Friday.
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.
