St. Mary's at DII First Pitch Invitational
January 31-February 2 // Games 1-5 // Conroe, Texas // The Scrap Yard
1/31 vs Southeastern Oklahoma State   11 a.m.
     vs Colorado School of Mines   4 p.m.
2/1   vs Saint Martin's   11 a.m.
     vs #RV Pittsburg State   1:30 p.m.
2/2   vs #21 Colorado Mesa   10 a.m.
Picked Fifth: St. Mary's was selected in a tie for fifth place in the Lone Star Conference Preseason poll, announced by the league office. The Rattlers received 483 points to tie Lubbock Christian for fifth in the poll, voted on by the league's head coaches, athletic communications personnel and selected media. Defending National Champion UT Tyler received 34 of the 43 first-place votes and 672 points, while West Texas A&M garnered eight first-place nods and 642 points to finish second. Angelo State (590) and Oklahoma Christian (528) round out the top five in the 16-team league.
Team (1st place votes)   Points   2024 (LSC)
1. UT Tyler (34)Â Â Â 672Â Â Â 58-8 (37-5)
2. West Texas A&M (8)Â Â Â 642Â Â Â 50-8 (37-5)
3. Angelo State (1)Â Â Â 590Â Â Â 37-18 (28-14)
4. Oklahoma Christian   528   35-23 (27-15)
5-T. Lubbock Christian   483   26-22 (24-18)
5-T. St. Mary's   483   32-26 (26-16)
7. Texas Woman's   382   25-29 (23-19)
8. Texas A&M-Kingsville   372   30-22 (22-20)
9. Cameron   348   30-23 (22-20)
10. Eastern New Mexico   315   26-26 (18-24)
11. St. Edward's   293   18-34 (16-26)
12. Texas A&M International   215   15-37 (12-30)
13. Midwestern State   214   15-36 (13-29)
14. Western New Mexico   138   9-40 (6-36)
15. UT Permian Basin   97   7-44 (4-38)
16. Sul Ross State   72   [Div. III: 14-24]
Returning All-Conference: Senior Savannah Youngblood (RP) was named to the Lone Star All-Conference Second Team in 2024, while Lauren Gonzales (LF) was voted to the Third Team and Gabriela Banda (1B/DP) was honored on the All-Freshman team.
Eight Is Great: Senior Savannah Youngblood collected four saves in 2024 and has eight in her career, moving into a tie for second all-time at St. Mary's with Alex McLennan (2018-21). Youngblood is one shy of tying the school record of nine held by Ashley Mills (2016-17).
In the Final National Rankings: St. Mary's finished up the 2024 season ranked in the top 50 in the DII statistics in several categories:
Category   Rank   Total
Double Plays   7   25
DP/Game   21   0.43
Hits   48   451
On-Base %Â Â Â 43Â Â Â .393
Runs Scored   49   302
Sacrifice Bunts   8   59
Stolen Bases   40   94
Walks   5   247
Speedy Gonzales: Senior LF Lauren Gonzales currently ranks fourth in stolen bases on the St. Mary's career charts with 79. She passed Jennifer Zapalac (1988-91) for fourth and needs 18 to tie Taylor Vidrine (2012-15) for third. Gonzales is the only two-year player to rank in the top 10 in school history.Â
Gonzales Leads the Way: Lauren Gonzales led the Lone Star Conference in both stolen base percentage (.822) and stolen bases per game (0.80) in 2024. She ranked 12th nationally with her 0.80 swipes per contest and her 37 steals ranked 17th overall.
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 six seasons ranked in the top 25, finishing 2024 ranked seventh. The 25 double plays also tied for the sixth-most in school history, knotting the 2016 team. The single season record is 34 by the 2014 club.
Year   Rank   # DPs
2019Â Â Â 21Â Â Â 21
2020Â Â Â 2Â Â Â 13
2021Â Â Â 1Â Â Â 24
2022Â Â Â 22Â Â Â 21
2023Â Â Â 10Â Â Â 23
2024Â Â Â 7Â Â Â 25Â Â Â
Getting On Base: Junior Raegan Tennill enters 2025 having reached base in five straight games, while senior Jadyn Abrego has reached safely in her last seven contests. Tennill was second on the team with 16 multi-hit games a season ago.
They're Smart Too: Jadyn Abrego, Lauren Gonzales, Raegan Tennill and Savannah Youngblood were all named to the CSC Academic All-District team last May. The honor evaluates a player's contributions on and off the field. To qualify, a player must have played at least one year at their current institution, maintain a 3.50 GPA, and be a starter or key reserve player. Abrego and Tennill are biology majors, while Gonzales is working on her MBA and Youngblood is a mechanical engineering major.
