SAN ANTONIO – The St. Mary's Softball team carried the momentum from the late innings in game one over into game two to earn a split against Texas Woman's on Thursday afternoon.
The Rattlers (30-21, 20-18 LSC) scored four runs in the sixth, but couldn't quite overtake the Pioneers (23-26, 15-23 LSC) in game one, falling 6-4 but the team started hot in game two and remained that way throughout for the 6-0 win.
After the games were completed, the Rattlers honored the three seniors on the roster in
Catalina Cavazos (Houston),
Lauren Garcia (San Antonio) and
Isabella Saldivar (San Antonio).
The two teams conclude the season series on Friday at 11 a.m. The time was moved up to help accommodate Fiesta Oyster Bake on campus.
GAME ONE RECAP
The Rattlers almost pulled off the comeback, scoring four runs in the bottom of the sixth after TWU plated five in the fifth, but the rally fell just short.
Junior
Destiny Salinas (San Antonio) kicked off the rally with a single through the right side. Junior
Reba Reyes (Brownsville, Texas) reached on an error by the shortstop. A flyout off the bat of sophomore
Jamison Holder (Magnolia, Texas) pushed runners to the corners and a stolen base by Reyes put both in scoring position. Sophomore
Kaylynne Ruiz (Eagle Pass, Texas) doubled to the gap in right centerfield to score both and freshman
Raegan Tennill (Corpus Christi, Texas) pinch ran for her. She moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single through the right side of the infield by junior
Ericka Gomez (Stafford, Texas). Garcia reached on catcher's interference, pushing Gomez to second and Gomez hustled to third on a long fly to right by sophomore
Lauryn Ramos (Marion, Texas). Junior
Mackenzie Dugi (St. Hedwig, Texas) facing her former Texas A&M Commerce teammate in the circle, singled past the shortstop to plate Gomez for the fourth run.
Alyssa LeBlanc held on for the win, improving to 16-11 on the year for the Pioneers while sophomore
Madeline Bloom (Poway, Calif.) was handed an unfortunate loss to fall to 9-7.
The Rattlers six hits were recorded by six different players and Ruiz had the only extra-base hit with her double in the sixth.
GAME TWO RECAP
Cavazos shut down the Pioneers offense, retiring the final 18 batters of the game for her third-consecutive three-hit shutout and the fourth in her last five appearances. Cavazos didn't walk a single batter and she struck out seven to improve to 14-7 on the year.
Gonzales put on a base stealing clinic, breaking the school record with four steals – swiping both second and third bases twice. She breaks the record of three, which had been accomplished 15 times by 10 different players, including Gonzales three times this year. She also moves within six of tying the StMU single-season stolen base record of 44, held by Shannon Tigner in 1990.
The nightcap started with a bang as Salinas hit a ball to straightaway centerfield and a miss on a diving attempt by the centerfielder allowed Salinas to hit the team's second inside the park home run of the year.
In the third inning bunted for a single, stole second and third and scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Reyes for the 2-0 tally.
After a nine-pitch inning by Cavazos, the Rattlers got back to work on offense. With one out, Ramos singled to left field. Garcia was hit by a pitch and freshman
Emily Ayala (San Antonio) pinch hit for Dugi. She reached on a fielder's choice where the shortstop tried to get Ramos at third, but she was safe after the ball was dropped on a collision at the bag. Dugi re-entered the game at first base for Ayala and a walk to Salinas scored Ramos. Gonzales singled up the middle to score the second run of the inning and double the lead to 4-0.
With one out in the sixth, Gonzales reached on a fielding error by the third baseman. She again stole second and third bases and scored with two outs on a blast over the left centerfield fence by Holder for the 6-0 final.
Gonzales, Holder and Ramos also recorded two hits in the game while Holder and Salinas each collected two RBI.
