Softball Hosts Falcons at The Park

Lone Star Conference Play • San Antonio • The Park at StMU
UT Permian Basin (4-29, 1-23)
Thurs., Mar 28, 3&5 p.m. • Fri., Mar 29, 12 p.m.
Series History: 43-3
Home: 25-1
Away: 16-2
Neutral: 2-0
Extra Innings: 1-0
Longest W Streak: 24
Longest L Streak: 1
Current Streak: W24

First Pitch

•    St. Mary's returns home to host UT Permian Basin in front of the Easter weekend, playing a doubleheader on Thursday at 3 and 5 p.m. and Friday at Noon.

•    The Rattlers own a 43-3 advantage in the all-time series against the Falcons and they've won 24 straight in the series, dating back to 2012. St. Mary's is 25-1 at home against UTPB with a 2-0 mark at The Park since joining the Lone Star Conference.

•    St. Mary's had the exact same number of hits as #2 West Texas A&M in all three games of the series, falling in the seventh inning in two of the three. Both teams totaled 23 hits, with WT hitting .291 for the week and StMU at .284. 

•    Senior LF Lauren Gonzales hit her first home run of the season and second of her career with an inside-the-park round-tripper to start game three at WT. She is the seventh different player to hit a home run this season.

•    Senior CF Reba Reyes was hit by another pitch at West Texas A&M, giving her 18 plunks in her career. She is now tied for second in St. Mary's history, tied with five others. Sydney Wellmann holds the record with 23 HBP (2015-2016).

In the National Rankings: St. Mary's ranks in the top 50 in the DII statistics in several categories:

Category    Rank    Total
Double Plays    6    15
Hits    22    288
Runs    45    184
Sacrifice Bunts    10    32
Stolen Bases    34    58
Triples    49    8
Walks    8    137

A Look Back: Last season when the Rattlers faced UT Permian Basin, then-freshman Emily Ayala put on a hitting clinic. She was 7-for-10 in the series with three home runs, two of which were grand slams, and collected 11 RBIs in a sweep of the Falcons. She tied the school record with seven RBI in game three. The Rattlers won the three games 14-5, 12-0 and 18-4.

Back-to-Back: Twice this season senior CF Reba Reyes has hit home runs in back-to-back at bats. She is the 14th player in St. Mary's history to leave the yard in consecutive at bats. She is also the sixth player to go back-to-back on multiple occasions. Jared Gonzalez accomplished the feat four times, while Elizabeth Beyer did it three times.

Closing In: Senior 2B Ericka Gomez has 30 sacrifice bunts in her career, needing three more to tie for 10th on the St. Mary's career chart. Gomez currently ranks second in the Lone Star and 63rd in the nation in sacrifice bunts per game with 0.22.

No Hits For You: Junior Madeline Bloom threw the first no-hitter of her career in game two at Cameron on March 13. She is the 14th Rattler to throw a no-hitter. She walked three and struck out one, needing only 94 pitches for the complete game. She was the fifth player in the Lone Star Conference to throw a no-hitter this season.

It's An Honor: Both Sr. CF Reba Reyes and Jr. P Savannah Youngblood have been rewarded by the Lone Star Conference with a weekly award this season. Reyes was named the hitter of the week on March 11 after hitting .600 in the series against Lubbock Christian where four of her six hits went for extra bases. Youngblood earned pitcher of the week on March 4 after winning two games and adding a save in three appearances against St. Edward's and Texas A&M International. She retired 17 straight Hilltoppers, allowing only one hit in 6.1 innings and didn't allow a run in the three appearances. 

Speedy Gonzales: Senior LF Lauren Gonzales currently ranks seventh in stolen bases on the St. Mary's career charts with 63, passing Bari Christian (2019-22) with 60. She is two shy of tying Terrie Cox (2003-06) for sixth with 65. Gonzales is the only two-year player to rank in the top 10 in school history.

They're Smart Too: A total of 19 of the 22 players on the 2024 roster were named to the Lone Star Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll in the fall. Senior P Sara Robertson also earned a 4.00 GPA in the fall. To be eligible for the award, student-athletes must have a minimum 3.30 GPA for the semester.