Softball Posts Pair of Lopsided Victories

ODESSA, Texas – After Saturday's loss left a bitter taste in the mouths of the St. Mary's Softball team the Rattlers took their frustration out on UT Permian Basin on Thursday, winning a pair of lopsided contests 14-5, and 12-0 in five innings.
 
The Rattlers combined for 20 hits over the two games as well as 18 walks as they improve to 25-17 on the season and 15-14 in Lone Star Conference action. The Falcons move to 6-31 overall and 3-26 in league play.
 
For the first time since April 19, 2013 and the fourth time in school history (Division II era), St. Mary's hit two grand slams in the same game, as freshman Emily Ayala (San Antonio) and junior Reba Reyes (Brownsville, Texas) each hit one in the nightcap. The last duo to accomplish the feat were Christina Rodriguez and Haley Richter at Oklahoma Panhandle State.
 
StMU and UTPB wrap up the regular season series on Friday at 1 p.m. in Odessa as the Rattlers go for their third conference sweep of the year.
 
GAME ONE RECAP
Four crooked innings for the Rattlers, including a six-run seventh, lifted the team to a 14-5 win in the opener. Both Reyes and sophomore Jamison Holder (Magnolia, Texas) led the way with three RBI, while junior Destiny Salinas (San Antonio) had three hits in the leadoff spot and junior Lauren Gonzales (San Antonio) scored four times.
 
Junior Mackenzie Dugi (St. Hedwig, Texas) continued to be patient at the plate, adding three more walks to her season total for 31 in 2023.
 
Head Coach Donna Fields flipped the starting rotation in the circle, pitching Madeline Bloom (Poway, Calif.) in game one instead of game three and she made the most of her first back-to-back start of the year, getting her eighth victory. She didn't walk a single batter, struck out three and allowed five runs on 11 hits.
 
Salinas started things off with a bunt single and moved to second when Gonzales drew a walk. With one out, Holder laced a double right inside the foul line to left field to score a pair and notch her 12th double of the year for the 2-0 lead. 
 
Junior Ericka Gomez (Stafford, Texas) led off the second inning with a single to right and stole second base for her fourth swipe of the season. Dugi walked and sophomore Lauryn Ramos (Marion, Texas) laid down a terrific bunt a few feet down the first base line. Salinas singled back up the middle to plate Gomez, but Salinas was thrown out trying to take second. Gonzales beat out a bunt for a single and she stole second base. Reyes singled up the middle to plate both runs and stretch the advantage to 5-0.
 
UTPB scored one run in the bottom of the second and one in the third to cut the deficit to three, 5-2.
 
Sophomore Kaylynne Ruiz (Eagle Pass, Texas) walked to get things going for the Rattlers in the fifth and freshman Abigail Dela Rosa (LaGrange, Texas) came in to run for her. Senior Lauren Garcia (San Antonio) bunted her to second, Gomez walked on four straight pitches and Dugi walked to load the bases and the Falcons brought their right fielder into the circle. Ramos hit a sacrifice fly to right field to plate Dela Rosa for the 6-2 edge.
 
Gonzales walked and on a hit-and-run moved all the way to third on a single to right off the bat of Reyes. Reyes stole second and a wild pitch plated Gonzales and pushed Reyes to third. Holder walked and freshman Madison Guerrero (San Antonio) pinch ran for her. Guerrero immediately stole second for the first theft of her collegiate career. With one out, Garcia reached on a fielder's choice that erased Reyes off the base paths. A wild pitch scored Guerrero for the second run and an 8-2 score.
 
The Falcons managed to get one back in the bottom of the sixth on a solo home run to make it 8-3.
 
Ramos was plunked by a pitch to lead off in the seventh. Salinas hit her second bunt single of the day and Gonzales did the exact same thing to load the bases on two balls that didn't go past the pitching rubber. UTPB made another pitching change and a five-pitch walk to Reyes gave her the third RBI of the afternoon. Holder was plunked to score the tenth run for the Rattlers. Ruiz singled down the third-base line to plate Gonzales. Garcia walked on four straight pitches and Cousins re-entered in the circle. Freshman Raegan Tennill (Corpus Christi, Texas), who entered in the sixth inning, hit a sacrifice fly to left field and Ayala tallied a pinch-hit single to deep left field. A fielder's choice off the bat of freshman Arianna Sanchez (San Antonio) took Garcia off the base paths, but plated Ruiz for the 14-3 score.
 
A base-running error cost the Falcons a run in the bottom of the seventh. With runners on first and second, M. Quintero cleared the centerfield fence, but she was watching the flight of the ball and didn't realize she had passed the runner on first, who had to hold in case the ball was caught, so only two runs scored and brought the score to the final 14-5.
 
GAME TWO RECAP
Senior Catalina Cavazos (Houston) surrendered only three hits and struck out eight for the second-straight game in her fifth complete game shutout of the season as the Rattlers won 12-0 in five innings.
 
Salinas, Gonzales and Ayala each had two hits as the Rattlers scored 12 runs on eight hits with six walks and two hit batters. Reyes and Ayala each had four RBI with their grand slams, Dugi drew two more walks and Tennill was hit twice in the same inning.
 
With one out in the third, Salinas punched a ball over the pitcher's head for a single. Gonzales slapped a ball past the diving shortstop in the hole on the left side of the infield. Reyes drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases and Holder earned a base on balls after a long at bat to plate the first run of the game. Ayala smashed a grand slam over the left centerfield wall for the 5-0 lead.
 
Cavazos came out to strike out the side and get her offense right back to work. With one out, Tennill was hit by a pitch. Salinas and Gonzales each hit singles down the left field line to load the bases and Reyes took a pitch over the left centerfield wall for the second grand slam of the game and a 9-0 advantage. With two outs, Ayala singled to the gap in right center and Garcia doubled down the left field line, forcing another pitching change for the Falcons. Dugi walked on five pitches. Guerrero pinch hit for Ramos and was robbed of a hit by a diving shortstop, who got up to make the flip to third but was not in time to get Garcia. Tennill was hit for the second time in the inning to rotate the Rattlers around the bags. Salinas walked to score the seventh run of the frame and push the lead to 12-0, which remained throughout.