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Scoreboard

Amanda Villa
Antonio Morano Photography
Amanda Villa turned one of three double plays for the Rattlers on Thursday.
2
St. Mary's STMU 48-11
4
Winner Shorter SU 42-15
St. Mary's STMU
48-11
2
Final
4
Shorter SU
42-15
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
St. Mary's STMU 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 3 1
Shorter SU 1 0 0 0 3 0 X 4 12 0

W: Blanchard (19-4) L: Gutierrez Touchtone, Vianna (28-6)

Game Recap: Softball | | RattlerAthletics.com

Costly 5th inning dooms Softball in World Series opener

By Chad Peters | St. Mary's Athletics Communications

OKLAHOMA CITY — St. Mary's Softball will have to work its way out of the losers' bracket to remain in contention at the NCAA Division II Women's College World Series.
 
No. 24 Shorter dealt No. 7 St. Mary's a 4-2 defeat in Thursday's opening round, outhitting the Rattlers 12-3 at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium. The Rattlers (48-11) turned double plays to end three straight innings over the second, third and fourth frames to limit the damage of the Hawks' 12 hits.  
 
"I thought defensively, we got out of some tough situations," St. Mary's head coach Donna Fields said. "But offensively, we didn't jump when we had opportunities after those defensive plays. Again, some of your best defense is your offense. We had to get our offense going and Shorter did a better job than we did."
 
St. Mary's will face the loser of Indianapolis-North Georgia in an elimination game at 12 p.m. Saturday.
 
All-American Vianna Gutierrez Touchtone launched a two-run blast in the top of the fourth to put the Rattlers up 2-1, but Shorter (42-15) quickly answered in the fifth with a three-run outburst to take a 4-2 lead that stood the rest the way.
 
Maggie Meacham produced the go-ahead run in the fifth, launching a two-run double to left-center field to put the Hawks back up 3-2. Hope Russell relieved Gutierrez Touchtone in the circle and surrendered a single up the middle to Ericka Bynum that added an insurance run, 4-2.
 
Bynum was 3 for 3 with two RBIs for Shorter, including a RBI single up the middle during the fifth-inning rally. Gutierrez Touchtone led the way for St. Mary's, going 2 for 3 with two RBIs.
 
Gutierrez Touchtone's home run seemed to swing momentum in the fourth, but Shorter pitcher Amanda Blanchard settled down to not allow another hit the rest of the way, retiring the final 10 batters to keep the Rattlers' comeback hopes at bay.
 
Blanchard went the distance with five strikeouts to improve to 19-4 on the season, while Gutierrez Touchtone suffered the loss to drop to 28-6.
 
"It was a great game," Shorter coach Al Thomas said. "She pitched a three-hitter today. She gave up one long ball that resulted in their two runs. Besides that pitch, she was lights-out."
 
St. Mary's was punished for allowing a two-out walk in the first inning, as Kendall Johnson worked her way around the bases to give Shorter an early 1-0 lead. Johnson stole second, advanced to third on a throwing error to second base on the attempted caught stealing, and was then brought home on an RBI single from Bynum.
 
"I think this team has a lot of fight," Gutierrez Touchtone said, "so being in the losers' bracket just gives us more of an opportunity to get our bats going more, since we're probably going to play more games than if we were in the winners' bracket. This team has got a lot of fight. We just can't let adversity faze us."
 
St. Mary's is appearing in the World Series for the fourth time, having also advanced to the grand stage following the 2002, 2003 and 2005 seasons. The Rattlers won it all in 2002 under longtime coach Donna Fields. 

 
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