Softball Begins Six-Game Road Trip at TWU

Lone Star Conference Play • Denton, Texas • Dianne Baker Field
Texas Woman's (16-22, 14-13)
Fri., Apr 5, 4&6 p.m. • Sat., Apr 6, 1 p.m.
Series History: 37-19
Home: 17-5
Away: 14-9
Neutral: 6-5
Extra Innings: 4-1
Longest W Streak: 9
Longest L Streak: 4
Current Streak: W2

First Pitch

•    St. Mary's hits the road for a pair of road series, starting at Texas Woman's on Friday and Saturday. The teams will play a doubleheader starting at 4 on Friday and wrap up the series at 1 on Saturday.

•    The Rattlers are currently tied for fifth in the Lone Star Conference standings at 17-10, while the Pioneers are ninth at 14-13.

•    The Rattlers own a 27-19 advantage in the all-time series against the Pioneers and they've won six of seven since the two teams became conference foes. St. Mary's is 14-9 all-time in Denton and 2-0 in league action.

•    With her next hit, junior catcher Jamison Holder will be the third player this season and the fourth active player on the roster with 100 career hits. Senior Mackenzie Dugi leads the way with 139 hits, while Reba Reyes has 114 and Ericka Gomez 112. Senior Lauren Gonzales is also rapidly approaching the milestone as she has 88 hits.

•    Last week, the Rattlers swept the series against UT Permian Basin, using the run-rule in all three games. The team hit .381 with an ERA of 1.87 and was a perfect 14-for-14 in stolen bases. Senior CF Reba Reyes reached base in 9/10 plate appearances, hitting .857.

Eight Is Great: Junior SS Lauryn Ramos became the eighth Rattler this season to hit a home run, smashing a grand slam in the first inning of game one against UTPB. It is the third of her career and the first grand slam.

Not A Stat You Want To Lead: Senior CF Reba Reyes was hit by a pitch in game two against UT Permian Basin, giving her 19 for her career. That moves her into sole possession of second place in St. Mary's history, passing five others who were plunked 18 times. Syndey Wellmann holds the record with 23 HBP (2015-16).

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    17
Hits    32    312
On-Base %    50    .393
Runs    42    216
Sacrifice Bunts    12    34
Stolen Bases    24    72
Walks    5    161

Tough Schedule: St. Mary's has seven opponents on the 2024 schedule either ranked or receiving votes in Week 8 of the NFCA poll and five of those are in the top 10 (#1 West Texas A&M, #4 Rogers State, #6 UT Tyler, #7 Colorado Christian, #10 Pittsburg State).

In Rare Company: Senior Reba Reyes is one of only six players in St. Mary's history with at least a dozen home runs and more than 40 stolen bases.

Player    HR    SB    Yrs
Taylor Vidrine    37    97    2012-15
Miranda Medina    15    45    2014-17
Terrie Cox    14    65    2003-06
Reba Reyes    14    42    2021-24
Hannah Michel    12    51    2015-18
Natalie Hill    12    50    1999-02

Turning Two: St. Mary's historically ranks as one of the best in Division II in turning double plays. The Rattlers have ended each of the last five seasons ranked in the top 25 and this year they rank sixth.

Year    Rank    # DPs
2019    21    21
2020    2    13
2021    1    24
2022    22    21
2023    10    23
2024    6    17    

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.

Standout Sophomore Season: After recording only one multi-hit game as a freshman in 2023, sophomore 3B Raegan Tennill has exploded to lead the team with 13 multi-hit contests in 2024. There have only been five games this season where she hasn't been on base at least once. She's second on the team with 14 stolen bases, she's hitting .400 with runners on base, and she has 10 two-out RBI.

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 fifth in the Lone Star and 4th in the nation in sacrifice bunts per game with 0.21.

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 sixth in stolen bases on the St. Mary's career charts with 68, passing Terrie Cox (2003-06) with 65. She is three away from tying Sade Moore (2006-09) for fifth. 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.