LAWTON, Okla. — The St. Mary's University Softball team earned a hard-fought sweep at Cameron on Sunday afternoon, winning game one 3-0 before getting an 8-4 victory in game two.
Senior
Ariella Saenz (Pharr, Texas) continued her hot run in the circle, pitching a complete-game shutout in the first contest. She allowed only four hits, with two walks and a strikeout, needing only 81 pitches for the seven innings. She also had four assists, getting 19 of the 21 outs in the game via groundout. With the win, she moves to 9-5 on the season.
Saenz also started game two, pitching 2 1/3 innings, where she gave up one run on two hits before turning the ball over to junior
Emery Aguilar (Georgetown, Texas). Aguilar improved to 7-3 after working 3 2/3 innings, giving up three runs on four hits with a walk, and freshman
Aly Garcia (Edinburg, Texas) pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
In game one, the Rattlers (21-16, 13-11) scored two runs in the third and tacked on an insurance run in the sixth. With two outs, sophomore
Izabella Valdez (San Antonio) and junior
Bryley Westfahl (San Antonio) drew back-to-back walks. Junior
Iliana Melendez (Seabrook, Texas) singled to load the bases, and Reagan Tennill (Corpus Christi, Texas) took the first pitch she saw to short, scoring Valdez and the speedy Westfahl from second.
In the sixth inning, Tennill led off with a single to center, hustled to second on a wild pitch, moved to third on an infield single by senior
Gabriela Banda (San Antonio) and scored on a sacrifice fly by senior
Abigail Dela Rosa (La Grange, Texas).
The nightcap started with Westfahl creating havoc on the bases. She walked, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Melendez, stole third, and a throw rushed by the catcher went wide, allowing her to score.
After the Aggies (18-19, 11-15) tied the score in the bottom half of the inning, the Rattlers plated four in the second and one each in the odd innings. They did their damage in the second with only one hit, getting three base on balls, two stolen bases, and a hit batter.
CU scored three runs in the sixth inning to close within three, but
Samiya Johnson (Corpus Christi, Texas) put an exclamation point on the game with a home run to left field for the 8-4 final.
The Rattlers host Lone Star Conference newcomer UT Dallas on Friday at Noon to begin Easter weekend. The Comets split against Sul Ross State on Sunday and are 8-18 on the year.
