Box Score SAN ANTONIO — St. Mary's Softball got the redemption it was looking for, battling rival St. Edward's in a heart-pounding win Friday to advance to Heartland Conference Championship title game, smacking a duo of two-run homers to take it 8-7.
The No. 15 Rattlers play for the tournament crown at Noon Saturday inside The Park at St. Mary's against the winner of Game 5.
The full Heartland Conference Tournament bracket and results can be found on the
Tournament Central Page.
Losing the coin flip, the Rattlers played as visitors while the Hilltoppers took the home dugout but St. Mary's defended its field, beating SEU after the Toppers ended the regular season with a sweep of StMU.
Catcher
Alex Rodriguez broke the silence in the second, blasting a two-run shot over the left field fence to put the Rattlers in the lead, 2-0.
Leadoff buff
Nicole Sardelich (Jr., Angleton, Texas) then bombed her fourth homer on the season at the most opportune time in the sixth, adding two more insurance runs with two outs in the highly contested match up.
A bases-loaded situation greeted RBI-leader
Haley Richter (Jr., Hondo, Texas) in the third, which ended with a hard-hit double to score two more and put the Rattlers up 4-0.
Rodriguez added another RBI to her tally on the day with a blooper to third with bases still loaded, making the Rattlers edge the Hilltoppers by five.
The Hilltoppers denied starting ace Emily Brittian (Sr., Corpus Christi, Texas) the shutout, scoring a lone run in the bottom of the third and added another in the bottom of the fifth.
Things got interesting in the bottom of the seventh when the Hilltoppers recorded a three-run homer to chip away at the lead and make it 8-5 then added two more runs off back-to-back RBI-singles, but the Rattlers were able to scrape away with the final out after a five-run final inning from the Hilltoppers.
Brittain picked up her second win in the tournament after downing St. Edward's, improving to 26-6 on the season while her Rattlers improved to 45-12 on the season.
Earning the right to host, No. 1-seeded St. Mary's play for the Heartland Conference Championship Tournament crown at Noon Saturday against the winner of Game 5.
