SAN ANTONIO - A walk-off win in the nightcap earned the St. Mary's Softball team a split against the St. Edward's Hilltoppers on Sunday. The Rattlers fell in the opener, 8-4 before winning 2-1 in eight innings in the second game of the day. St. Mary's is now 18-22 overall on the season and 13-15 in Lone Star Conference action.
Game One Recap
A leadoff walk in the top of the second for the Hilltoppers eventually came around to score, giving St. Edward's the early 1-0 advantage.
Abigale Carney reached on a leadoff walk in the home half of the second inning to get things going. Carney moved into scoring position on a perfectly-executed sacrifice bunt from
Tiffany Licon, bringing senior
Alex Moreno to the plate. Moreno recorded her first hit of the game with a single to second base, moving Carney to third.
Katerina McLennan came on to pinch run for Moreno and stole second base.
Amber Gonzales grinded out a nine-pitch at-bat that ended with a single to right field, scoring Carney and McLennan to give the Rattlers a 2-1 lead after two complete.
With one away in the bottom of the fourth, Moreno hit a towering shot that stayed just inside the left field foul pole for her eighth home run of the season. With the bases empty,
Bari Christian singled and swiped second, picking up her 15th stolen base of the season in 15 attempts. Christian moved up to third on a Gonzales fielder's choice and later scored on a groundout from
Ericka Gomez. After four complete innings, the Rattlers led 4-1.
The sixth inning turned out to be the difference in the game as the Hilltoppers took advantage of a St. Mary's error to plate six runs, highlighted by a three-run home run from Lauren Werning. St. Edward's added another run in the seventh to take an 8-4 lead into the Rattlers' final at-bat.
St. Mary's could not overcome the four-run deficit in the seventh, allowing the Hilltoppers to pick up their first win in The Park at St. Mary's since the stadium was built.
Game Two Recap
Runs were at a premium in the nightcap and the Rattlers struck early scoring one in the bottom of the second inning as Moreno led the inning off with a walk. Kat McLennan came on once again to pinch run and advanced into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt from Christian. McLennan scored on a single from
Victoria Aldridge to put the Rattlers in front.
Senior
Alex McLennan got the start in the circle for the Rattlers and was effective all night, keeping the Hilltopper offense silenced through five innings. McLennan got into some trouble in the top of the sixth as the first two St. Edward's batters reached base. A one-out walk loaded the bases but McLennan induced a foul out that did not allow any runners to advance. The Hilltoppers beat out a dribbler to second base, allowing a run to score to even the game at one. McLennan got a fly out from the next batter to limit the damage, leaving three runners stranded.
Neither team was able to manufacture a late-inning run, forcing the game into extra innings.
McLennan retired the Hilltoppers in the top of the eighth inning with just nine pitches, giving the Rattlers a chance to walk it off in the home half of the inning.
Gomez started things with a single to right field and Aldridge and
Reba Reyes would follow with singles of the own to load the bases for
Jayme Johns. With the infield drawn slightly in, Johns hit a slow roller to first base and in an attempt to cut the run down at the plate, the thrown was errant, allowing Gomez to score the game-winning run.
Alex McLennan earned the win, tossing a complete game, allowing just one run on five hits for her eighth victory of the season.
Aldridge finished the game 4-for-5 in the leadoff spot. Reyes, Licon, and Gomez each finished with two hits.
The Rattlers will close out the regular season on Wednesday as they welcome Eastern New Mexico to the Softball Stadium. First pitch of the doubleheader is slated for 4:00 p.m.
