This Week in Rattlers Softball
Cameron & #18 Oklahoma Christian at St. Mary's
March 14 & 16 // Games 28-31 // San Antonio // The Park at StMU
Broadcast: FloCollege • Play-by-Play: Rob Shadow & Dan Hawkins
St. Mary's Rattlers
Record   15-12, 10-6 LSC
Ranking   NR
Head Coach   Ronnie Ladines
StMU Record   15-12 (1st Year)
Career Record   Same
Cameron
Record   13-9, 8-8 LSC
Ranking   NR
Head Coach   Bryan Howard
CU Record   13-9 (1st Year)
Career Record   60-71 (3rd Year)
Oklahoma Christian
Record   17-7, 10-6 LSC
Ranking   18
Head Coach   Shalee Rodriguez
OC Record   129-62 (4th Year)
Career Record   Same
Home Again: The St. Mary's Softball team wraps up an eight-game homestand, hosting Cameron and #18 Oklahoma Christian on Friday and Sunday, respectively. The Rattlers are 8-5 at home this season, and 6-3 on the road.
History Against This Week's Opponents:
      CU   OC
Series   19-10   28-16
Home   4-5   17-6
   The Park at StMU   1-5   15-6
Away   3-2   7-10
Neutral Location   12-3   3-0
Unknown Location   0-0   1-0
Extra Innings   0-1   2-1
With StMU in top-25*Â Â Â 6-2Â Â Â 9-4
vs. top-25 Opponent*Â Â Â 0-0Â Â Â 1-4
Ronnie Ladines Era   0-0   0-0
Longest Winning Streak   7   9
Longest Losing Streak   3   7
Current Streak   W2   W3
*NCAA DII Era Only
Freshman Spotlight: First baseman Miah Corona had a great week last week, as she recorded a hit in all four games and all four hits were for extra bases as she collected three doubles and the first triple of her career. Corona had a .818 slugging percentage for the week, hitting .364 and had 33 chances in the field without making an error.
Getting the Hits: St. Mary's currently ranks third in the Lone Star Conference and 12th in the nation with 233 hits. West Texas A&M leads the nation and LSC with 273. The Rattlers also rank 20th in Division II with 142 RBIs.
Killer B's: Sophomore Bella Banda is having a terrific second season. She ranks fifth in the nation with 72 assists, sixth in Division II with 10 doubles, 39th in the country with 34 hits, 51st in RBIs with 24 and 16th in sacrifice flies with three.
Getting On Base: Junior Emily Ayala has reached base safely in 10 straight games, the longest active streak on the team and the second-longest this season, behind the 15 straight by Gabriela Banda that ended on Thursday. It is the longest streak of Ayala's career.
In the Circle: Emily Ayala has also been getting it done with the ball in her hands, giving up two earned runs or fewer in her last six starts. She has walked only seven batters this season in 40 innings pitched and leads the team with a 1.92 ERA and a 5-1 record.
Vamos Ramos: Senior Lauryn Ramos hit her first home run of the season against #4 Angelo State on Thursday, becoming the sixth different Rattler to leave the yard this year. Ramos is second on the team with five career home runs, trailing only the nine by Emily Ayala.
Career Achievements: Four seniors currently rank among the top 50 in Division II career active leaders.
Name   Category   Stat   Rank
Jadyn Abrego   Pitching Starts   61   47
Lauren Gonzales   Stolen Bases   86   7
Lauryn Ramos   Games Played   184   33
Savannah Youngblood   Saves   10   5
Youngblood also ranks 19th among all three Divisions, while Gonzales ranks 27th.
Fresh Honor: After hitting .545 over the four games at UTPB and SRS with two doubles, three RBIs and 18 putouts, catcher/designated player Izabella Valdez was named the Lone Star Conference Freshman of the Week. She is the first-ever Rattler to win the newly created award.
It's An Honor: Senior pitcher Madeline Bloom earned Lone Star Conference Pitcher of the Week honors after going 2-0 in starts in the South Central Regional Crossover. In 15.0 innings, Bloom allowed only one earned run and teams hit .130 against her. In her relief appearance, Bloom needed only seven pitches in two innings of work.
Saving the Day: Senior Savannah Youngblood broke the St. Mary's career saves record against MSU Denver, earning the 10th of her career. She breaks Ashley Mills mark of nine from 2016-17. Youngblood collected four saves each in 2022 and 2024 and has two this year.
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.
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.
