Softball Heads South for the Weekend

St. Mary's at Texas A&M International & Texas A&M-Kingsville
March 21 & 23 // Games 32-35 // Laredo // Kingsville
Broadcast: FloCollege

St. Mary's Rattlers
Record    17-14, 12-8 LSC
Ranking    NR
Head Coach    Ronnie Ladines
StMU Record    17-14 (1st Year)
Career Record    Same

Texas A&M International
Record    15-16. 9-11 LSC
Ranking    NR
Head Coach    Scott Libby
TAMIU Record    354-514 (17th Year)
Career Record    Same

Texas A&M-Kingsville
Record    16-15, 11-9 LSC
Ranking    NR
Head Coach    Orlando Salinas
TAMUK Record    70-63 (3rd Year)
Career Record    Same

South for the Week: The St. Mary's Softball team concluded an eight-game homestand with a 4-4 record and heads out on the road to face Texas A&M International on Friday and Texas A&M-Kingsville on Sunday.

History Against This Week's Opponents:

        TAMIU    TAMUK
Series    52-14    79-41
Home    29-10    44-16
    The Park at StMU    18-8    15-7
Away    22-4    30-20
Neutral Location    1-0    5-5
Extra Innings    5-0    8-7
With StMU in top-25*    17-4    29-1
vs. top-25 Opponent*    0-0    7-14
Ronnie Ladines Era    0-0    0-0
Longest Winning Streak    14    12
Longest Losing Streak    3    6
Current Streak    W3    W1
*NCAA DII Era Only

A Lot of Softball: The last time the Dustdevils and Rattlers met on the diamond in Laredo, the two teams played a lot of extra ball, as game one went 15 innings, game two stretched to 11 and the Rattlers completed the sweep with a regulation 7-inning win in game three.

The Long Ball: In game one against Oklahoma Christian on Sunday, the Rattlers hit three home runs, the most in a game this season. Three different Rattlers hit one, including Izabella Valdez, who hit the first of her career in the third frame. 

Turning Two: The Rattlers turned four double plays in the four games last week and now have 10 on the year. StMU now ranks third in the Lone Star, trailing league-leader Oklahoma Christian by three. 

KPI: The KPI is a metrics system that ranks teams' resumes on a game-by-game basis used by the NCAA for seeding purposes. The Rattlers currently rank 54th in the nation with a KPI of .171. That ranking is fifth among Lone Star Conference teams, trailing UT Tyler (2), Angelo State (6), West Texas A&M (10), and Oklahoma Christian (44). Ten of the 16 teams in the LSC rank within the top 100.

Going Streaking: Freshman first baseman Miah Corona holds the longest active hitting streak on the team at nine games. It is also the second-longest on the team in 2025, trailing only the 15-game streak by Gabriela Banda that was snapped last week. During the nine-game stretch, Corona is hitting .433 and six of her team-leading 13 hits have gone for extra bases. She's driven in 14 runs (35.9% of team's 39), with a slugging percentage of .667.

Getting the Hits: St. Mary's currently ranks second in the Lone Star Conference and 17th in the nation with 265 hits. West Texas A&M leads the nation and LSC with 323.

Killer B's: Sophomore Bella Banda is having a terrific second season. She ranks fourth in the nation with 81 assists, 30th in Division II with 10 doubles, and 30th in sacrifice flies with three.

In the Circle: Emily Ayala has been getting it done with the ball in her hands, giving up two earned runs or fewer in six of her last seven starts. She has walked only nine batters this season in 46 innings pitched and leads the team with a 2.28 ERA and a 5-1 record.

In Elite Company: There are currently two players in all of Division II who rank among the nation's leaders in both home runs and ERA and both compete in the Lone Star Conference in Emilee Boyer from West Texas A&M and the Rattlers' Emily Ayala. Boyer ranks 69th in ERA at 1.74 and 1st in home runs with 12, while Ayala ranks 149th in ERA and 88th with five home runs.

Career Achievements: Four seniors currently rank among the top 50 in Division II career active leaders.

Name    Category    Stat    Rank
Jadyn Abrego    Pitching Starts    63    47
Lauren Gonzales    Stolen Bases    88    7
Lauryn Ramos    Games Played    188    35
Savannah Youngblood    Saves    10    5

Youngblood also ranks 23rd among all three Divisions, while Gonzales ranks 28th.

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. The Rattlers received 483 points to tie Lubbock Christian for fifth in the poll. 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.