Softball Plates Six in Seventh For Game One Win but Drops Game Two

DENVER — The St. Mary's University Softball team mounted an amazing comeback in the first game of a doubleheader against MSU Denver, before falling victim to a potent offense in game two for the split on Sunday.
 
The Rattlers (5-7) trailed 5-0 entering the seventh inning in the first game and exploded for six runs on five hits for the victory. The Roadrunners (5-5) returned the favor in game two, scoring seven in the second and four in the third for the run-rule win, 12-2.
 
With one out in the seventh inning of game one, sophomore Abigail Dela Rosa (La Grange, Texas) bunted for a single and moved to second on a single to centerfield off the bat of sophomore Raegan Tennill (Corpus Christi, Texas). Junior Jamison Holder (Magnolia, Texas) loaded the bases with a single to right and freshman Kimberly Ramirez (San Antonio) drew a walk in a pinch-hit appearance for an RBI. With two outs after a pitching change, senior Reba Reyes (Brownsville, Texas) walked in another run and sophomore Emily Ayala (San Antonio) cleared the bases with a double to left center. Freshman Gabriela Banda (San Antonio) pinch hit and singled back to the pitcher, plating Ayala to force the Roadrunners to go to the bullpen again.
 
Sophomore Breanna Ford (Corpus Christi) entered in the circle for the seventh inning and struck out two of the four she faced for her second save of the season. She assisted senior Sara Robertson (Lorena, Texas) in recording her first win of 2024. Robertson faced only one batter in the sixth, striking out the Roadrunner to improve to 1-1.
 
Junior Madeline Bloom (Poway, Calif.) worked five solid innings, allowing three runs on six hits. She walked only one and fanned three.
 
The top three in the lineup, Del Rosa, Tennill and Holder each had two hits and scored once. Ayala was the fourth Rattler to collect a pair of hits.
 
The momentum remained with the Rattlers early in game two as they scored a pair in the top of the second for the 2-1 advantage, but the Roadrunners flipped the script, scoring seven in the bottom of the second and four in the third to split.
 
Holder added another two hits, going 2-for-3 in the nightcap. Banda, junior Lauryn Ramos (Marion, Texas) and sophomore Arianna (AJ) Sanchez recorded the other three hits in the game. 
 
Ford, Ayala and Robertson all pitched 1 1/3 innings with Ford taking the loss to move to 3-3.