Softball Shuts Out Greyhounds in Regular Season Finale

Box Score PORTALES, N.M. — Pitching her second consecutive game, St. Mary's University junior Madeline Bloom threw her second-straight complete game and shut out Eastern New Mexico 9-0 in the regular season finale for both teams.
 
Bloom (Poway, Calif.) surrendered eight hits with seven singles and she struck out five to even her season record at 7-7. The Rattlers enter the Lone Star Conference Championship with a 31-23 overall record and their 26-16 conference mark locks them into the fifth seed for next week's tournament.
 
Senior Lauren Gonzales (San Antonio), junior Jamison Holder (Magnolia, Texas) and senior Ericka Gomez (Stafford, Texas) each had two hits as the Rattlers scored their nine runs on 11 hits and were aided by four Greyhound (25-25) errors. All nine spots in the batting order reached base at least once.
 
Gonzales singled up the middle to get the Rattlers started in the top of the first. With two outs, Reyes beat out an infield single and scored when Holder doubled to the wall in right field for the 1-0 lead.
 
In the top of third inning, Tennill walked and Reyes was hit by a pitch. Holder sacrificed them up 60 feet. Gomez singled to the gap in right-center to score both and stretch the advantage to 3-0.
 
Gomez singled to deep at short to lead off the fifth and moved to second when Dugi drew a four-pitch walk. With one out, the pair moved up on a wild pitch and scored on a pinch-hit ground-rule double by freshman Gabriela Banda (San Antonio).
 
The Rattlers defense showed its brilliance in the fourth inning. With a runner on first and one out, a single was hit to right field and Dugi gunned the ball home to Holder, who made the tag and whipped the ball to Ramos covering second for the tag play to get the offense back to work.
 
In the sixth, Reyes was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a bloop single down the left field line by Holder. Gomez hit a rocket to left field that was ruled an error and the throw home went wide, allowing Reyes to score. Dugi singled to left center, plating two more runs and pushing the lead to 8-0. After a pitching change, Abrego reached on a fielding error by the second baseman to put runners on the corners and sophomore Abigail Dela Rosa (La Grange, Texas) entered to pinch run. Ramos hit a ball to short, whose attempt to throw home and get Dugi was not in time and made the scoreboard read 9-0.
 
The bracket for the Lone Star Championship will be released on Saturday evening. Stay tuned to rattlerathletics.com for more information.