THIS WEEK IN RATTLERS SOFTBALL
Alvy Early Memorial Classic, Bentonville, Ark.
2/6   vs Harding   11 a.m.
     vs Missouri S&T   1:30 p.m.
2/7   vs Southeastern Oklahoma State   11:30 a.m.
    vs William Jewell   2 p.m.
2/8   vs Emporia State   11 a.m.
    vs Truman State   1:30 p.m.
(There will be no live statistics or video streaming)
Week Two: The St. Mary's Softball team will face two first-time opponents at the Alvy Early Memorial Classic in Bentonville, Arkansas. The team will play two games each Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
First Pitch Recap: The Rattlers went 4-1 at the DII First Pitch Invitational, winning the first four games of the year, including a 3-2 win over Southeastern Oklahoma State, which the Rattlers face again this week at the Early Memorial Classic.
Made to be Broken: Senior Raegan Tennill entered her final season with 11 sacrifice flies in her career, needing two more to break the record, and did it in her first week. Tennill had sacrifice flies against both Mississippi College and Simon Fraser, breaking the school record of 12 held by Vianna Gutierrez-Touchtone (2012-15).
Swiper, No Swiping: St. Mary's was a perfect 11-for-11 in stolen bases in week one, which is the 16th highest total in Division II and third-best in the powerful Lone Star Conference. Junior transfer Bryley Westfahl leads the team with five stolen bases, which leads the league and is seventh in DII.
New Role: Senior pitcher Emily Ayala has stepped into the reliever role, and showed extreme promise early. In five appearances, Ayala has two saves and a win to her name. She's pitched 8.2 innings over the five games with five strikeouts.
Early Leads: St. Mary's is 3-0 this season when scoring the first run of the game and 1-1 when the opponent scores first. However, the Rattlers have also been good late, winning two games in walkoff fashion in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Brought Big Bat: Junior college transfer Iliana Melendez brought a big bat with her from San Jacinto. After hitting .409 last year for the perennial powerhouse team, Melendez is hitting .500 this season for the Rattlers with an .833 slugging percentage and a .538 on-base percentage. Melendez leads the team with two triples in her six hits, and she's added two sacrifice bunts and a stolen base.
Walkoff Times Two: Senior Raegan Tennill was at the plate for both of St. Mary's walkoff victories. Against Southeastern Oklahoma, Tennill found the gap in right center to score both Emery Aguilar and Bryley Westfahl, while against Chadron State, Tennill hit a sharp grounder to the right side, that was overthrown by the second baseman, plating freshman Peyton Miers.
What We're Made Of: The St. Mary's roster is comprised of 27 student-athletes. Fourteen are returners, five are transfers and eight are freshmen. All 27 hail from the state of Texas and 10 of them are from San Antonio or the surrounding area (Bulverde, Floresville).
What's Returning: The Rattlers return 14 players off last season's team that finished 26-29, including senior Emily Ayala and junior Gabriela Banda, who were both named to the 2025 LSC All-Conference teams, and are listed as LSC Players to Watch in 2026. The Rattlers also return starters Miah Corona (1B), Abigail Dela Rosa (CF), and Raegan Tennill (3B).
They're Smart Too: A week ago, the LSC released the Commissioner's Honor Roll for the fall semester, and 20 softball student-athletes earned at least a 3.30 GPA, including Samiya Johnson, Jaylan Roberson and AJ Sanchez, who all posted a perfect 4.00 in the fall. The other who made the team are Emery Aguilar, Emily Ayala, Gabriela Banda, Miah Corona, Abigail Dela Rosa, Breanna Ford, Neveah Hallmark, Bella Magaro, Madison Magaro, Hannah Melendez, Iliana Melendez, Peyton Miers, Ariella Saenz, Raegan Tennill, Milliana Torrez, Bryley Westfahl and Emma Wilson.
Middle of the Pack: St. Mary's was chosen in a vote by the LSC coaches, SIDs and media to finish ninth in the LSC standings. The Rattlers received 445 points. Two-time defending national champion UT Tyler was voted the favorite, while West Texas A&M, Angelo State, Oklahoma Christian and Lubbock Christian rounded out the top five.
Helping Hand: Junior infielder Gabriela Banda led the Lone Star Conference and ranked 18th in the nation in total assists last season with 133. Her 2.46 assists per game also ranked 34th nationally.
Peyton's Place: Of the eight freshmen on the 2026 roster, three of them share a first name. Peyton Miers, Peyton Perry, and Peyton Travis are all first-year players for the Rattlers. Miers and Travis also share a position, as both are catchers.
The Need for Speed: Senior Abigail Dela Rosa ranked sixth in the LSC and 28th in the nation a season ago with six triples. Her six three-baggers tie for the fourth most in a single season in St. Mary's history
