COMMERCE, Texas – Entering this weekend, there were very few outside the program who believed St. Mary's Softball could make noise at the NCAA Regional Tournament after being seeded seventh, but the Rattlers made a lot of noise before dropping both games in the finals of the NCAA South Central Regionals, 2-1 and 6-2 at the hands of second-ranked Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday at Texas A&M Commerce.
The Rattlers (38-19) and Javelinas (49-10) met for the seventh and eighth times this season in the doubleheader after four games in the regular season, one in the Lone Star Conference Tournament and one on the opening day of the NCAA Tournament. In 2002, the two teams faced each other nine times and the Rattlers are now 74-39 all-time against the Javelinas.
It is the fourth time the Rattlers have finished second at the NCAA South Central Regional in the school's history and the second-straight time after placing second in 2017, the club's last appearance.
GAME ONE RECAP
A true pitcher's duel through the first five innings as neither team managed a hit until the fourth or a run until the sixth.
After the Javelinas scored two runs on four hits in the top of the sixth inning, the Rattlers immediately answered. Senior
Tiffany Licon (Austin, Texas) doubled down the left field line and came around to score on a
Cassidy Mageors (Freeport, Texas) single back up the box to cut the deficit in half, 2-1, but they were unable to push any other runs across.
Junior
Catalina Cavazos (Houston) allowed two runs on five hits, walking three and striking out three to move to 20-5.
Mageors, senior
Bari Christian (San Antonio) and Licon recorded the three hits in the game for the Rattlers.
GAME TWO RECAP
The Javelinas grabbed the momentum away from the Rattlers in the top of the fourth after StMU scored a pair in the bottom of the third.
Mageors beat out an infield hit to shortstop and moved to second on a single up the middle by senior
Victoria Aldridge (Elgin, Texas). Senior
Jayme Johns (Elgin) bunted for a single to load the bases and an error by the shortstop off a sharply hit ball by freshman
Jamison Holder (Magnolia, Texas) allowed two runs to score for the 2-0 lead.
Kingsville gained the lead in the top of the fourth with six runs on six hits and a StMU miscue for the 6-2 tally and neither team scored the remainder of the game.
The Javelinas will face top-ranked UT Tyler in the NCAA Super Regionals in a best-of-three series.
