DENTON, Texas — After a tough loss in game one for the St. Mary's University Softball team, the bats came alive in game two, leading to a split against Texas Woman's on Thursday evening.
The Rattlers dropped game one, 5-3, before rebounding for the 10-2 victory in game two. StMU is now 22-23 on the year and 17-17 in Lone Star Conference play, while the Pioneers are 18-20 overall and 14-18 in league action.
The doubleheader was delayed 10 minutes for field maintenance; however, both games moved quickly, taking only 90 minutes each.
St. Mary's is in the midst of a 10-game road trip, headed to Tyler next for a rematch with No. 3 UT Tyler. The two teams split in San Antonio on March 29.
Game One Recap
The Rattlers managed only four hits in the first game, scoring three runs with the help of one TWU error, while the Pioneers scored five times on eight hits with one StMU miscue.
Senior
Lauren Gonzales (San Antonio) scored two of the team's three runs, reaching on a hit in the fourth and a fielder's choice in the sixth.
Junior
Emily Ayala (San Antonio) fell to 7-4 on the season in the circle. She gave up three runs on five hits with two strikeouts in two innings. Junior
Ariella Saenz (Pharr, Texas) pitched the final four innings, giving up one earned run on three hits.
After a leadoff double by the Pioneers in the bottom of the first, Ayala worked around trouble, getting a groundout and flyout. With two outs, Ayala threw a wild pitch but quickly covered home, and freshman catcher
Izabella Valdez (San Antonio) was able to toss the ball to her for the tag out to end the inning.
The Pioneers plated one run in the second and three in the third for a 4-0 lead. Saenz helped her own cause, reaching on a two-base error by the right fielder to lead off the fourth. Gonzales beat out a bunt back to the pitcher to put runners on the corners. Saenz scored on a groundout by sophomore
Gabriela Banda (San Antonio). Valdez singled to left center to score Gonzales from second to cut the deficit in half, 4-2.
TWU immediately answered with a run in the fourth to push the score to 5-2. Saenz singled to left to kick things off in the sixth but was erased on a fielder's choice off the bat of Gonzales. With two outs, senior
Jadyn Abrego (San Antonio) doubled to the gap in right center to score Gonzales from first to have the scoreboard read 5-3, but the Rattlers were unable to close the gap any further.
Game Two Recap
All nine hitters in the starting lineup recorded at least one hit as St. Mary's scored 10 runs on 13 hits in the run-rule five-inning nightcap.
Junior Reagan Tennill (Corpus Christi, Texas), Banda and junior
Abigail Dela Rosa (La Grange, Texas) all had two hit days, and Banda hit the two hardest hits in the cycle, getting a triple and a home run for her two knocks. She also scored twice and led the game with three RBIs.
Senior
Madeline Bloom (Poway, Calif.) improved to 9-5, pitching her eighth complete game in 2025 and fifth consecutive. Bloom scattered two runs on five hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
The Pioneers took a 1-0 lead in the third inning off three hits. The Rattlers exploded for five runs in the fourth and the fifth.
With one out, Banda hit her triple to right field. Senior
Lauryn Ramos (Marion, Texas) singled to right to plate Banda. Sophomore
Samiya Johnson (Corpus Christi), who entered in the second to run and remained in to play first base, singled past the shortstop. Freshman
Araceli Arevalo (Houston) singled to right field and scampered to second on a fielding error, scoring both Ramos and Johnson. Dela Rosa singled up the middle and smartly took second as they threw home to attempt to get Arevalo. Dela Rosa scored the fifth run of the frame when Tennill drove a single to right center.
Saenz singled to right, moved to second on a single off the bat of Valdez, and both scored on the home run by Banda. Ramos walked and was in safe at second due to a throwing error by the second baseman. Dela Rosa drove another single back up the middle to plate Ramos and forced yet another pitching change by the Pioneers. Tennill walked to load the bases, and two batters later, Saenz, in her second plate appearance of the inning, walked for the 10th run. The Pioneers got a run back in the bottom of the fifth, but Bloom shut down any thoughts of a comeback.
