EDMOND, Okla. — Fans were glued to the edges of their seats with all the theatrics in both games; however, the St. Mary's University Softball team was unable to come away with a win at No. 20 Oklahoma Christian on Wednesday, falling 5-3 and 10-9 in eight innings.
The Rattlers (23-26) remain on the road, closing the 10-game road trip at Cameron on Friday afternoon.
Game One Recap
The Rattlers scored their three runs on four hits as Jill Dickson limited opportunities for the Gold and Blue, striking out seven in her complete game victory.
Senior
Madeline Bloom (Poway, Calif.) dropped to 10-6 with her seventh straight complete game. She conceded three earned runs on six hits with one walk and one strikeout, needing only 80 pitches through the six frames.
Senior
Jadyn Abrego (San Antonio) drove in two runs in the first inning after both Reagan Tennill (Corpus Christi, Texas) and
Gabriela Banda (San Antonio) drew walks. Abrego drove a ball to the gap in right center to score both and give StMU the 2-0 lead.
The Eagles (scored one in the bottom half of the inning to cut the lead in half, 2-1. In the third with one out, senior
Lauren Gonzales (San Antonio) beat out a bunt down the third base line and came around to score on a double to left center by Banda. OC took the lead with three runs in the bottom of the inning and added an insurance run in the fourth for the 5-3 final.
Game Two Recap
St. Mary's fought its way back from a 6-1 deficit with a five-run fifth inning to tie the score at 6-6, but every time the Rattlers scored, the Eagles answered, walking it off with a single in the bottom of the eighth inning to win 10-9 and complete the sweep.
The Rattlers outhit the Eagles 13-to-12, with 11 of those hits coming in the fifth inning or later, but they stranded 10 runners on base.
Freshman
Miah Corona (Eddy, Texas) was 3-for-4 at the plate, while Tennill,
Emily Ayala (San Antonio), and
Lauryn Ramos (Marion, Texas) each had two hits in the game. Banda and Ramos also hit home runs in the five-run fifth.
Ayala took a tough loss, coming in for
Breanna Ford (Corpus Christi). Ford gave up three unearned runs on one hit, two walks and a hit batter through 2/3 of an inning. Ayala worked the final seven frames, surrendering five earned runs on 11 hits with two walks and a strikeout to move to 7-5 on the year.
Once again, the Rattlers struck first, with one run in the first, but the Eagles plated four in the bottom half, added one in the second and one in the fourth for the 6-1 lead.
With one out in the fifth, Gonzales bunted again for a single and moved to third when Ayala blasted a double down the left field line. Banda hit a three-run home run and Corona doubled to left center. Sophomore
Samiya Johnson (Corpus Christi) came in to pinch run for Corona and scored when Ramos took a ball deep over the left field fence to knot the score at 6-6. The Eagles regained the lead in the bottom of the inning on three hits.
In the top of the seventh, Corona led off with a single, moved to second on a bunt single by Ramos, and hustled to third on a sacrifice bunt off the bat of
Izabella Valdez (San Antonio). Junior
Ariella Saenz (Pharr, Texas) entered to pinch hit and smashed a ground-rule double to the gap in left center to score two more.
Abigail Dela Rosa (La Grange, Texas) drew a walk and forced a pitching change, and the Eagles went back to Dickson, the game one winner. Tennill singled down the left field line for the third run of the inning and the 9-7 lead.
The Eagles tied the game in the bottom of the seventh and with two outs in the eighth, put together a mini-rally with a double, walk and single to win the game.
