This Week in Rattlers Softball
UT Dallas • April 3 • 12 & 2 p.m.
St. Mary's Rattlers
Record 21-16, 13-11 LSC
Head Coach Taylor Lira
StMU Record 21-16 (1st Year)
UT Dallas Comets
Record 9-17, 7-13 LSC
Head Coach Casey Dickson
UTD Record 26-53 (2nd Year)
By The Numbers
5 St. Mary's has five players who have recorded 30 or more hits through the first 37 games of the season. Raegan Tennill leads the team with 39, while Iliana Melendez and Gabriela Banda both have 35, Miah Corona has 34, and Bryley Westfahl has 31.
17 Senior Reagan Tennill ranks 17th among all active Division II players with 59 career walks. She is the active career leader in the Lone Star Conference with no other players meeting the minimum requirement of 50 base on balls.
11 The Rattlers catchers, Madison Magaro and Izabella Valdez, have combined to throw out 11 attempted base stealers this season. Valdez has caught six, while Magaro has thrown out five in 2026.
First Time: The St. Mary's Softball team hosts Lone Star Conference newcomer UT Dallas on Friday for a doubleheader beginning at Noon. It is the first time the Rattlers and Comets have ever met on the diamond.
Last Time Out: St. Mary's rebounded in a big way, winning three of four on the road trip to Oklahoma last week, including a 2-1 win over then-No. 12 Oklahoma Christian. Senior Ariella Saenz started in the circle in all three wins, pitching a pair of complete games. Junior Gabriela Banda hit a two-run home run in the win at OC, giving her four on the season, which leads the team.
It's an Honor: For her efforts in the circle, senior pitcher Ariella Saenz was named the Lone Star Conference Pitcher of the Week. Saenz started three of the four games in the circle for the Rattlers, going 2-0 with a pair of complete-game victories. On Saturday, Saenz held No. 12 Oklahoma Christian to four hits in a 2-1 win and came back the next day to shut out Cameron. In her three appearances, which spanned 16 1/3 innings, Saenz went 2-0 with an 0.86 ERA, and opponents hit just .167 off her. In her victory over OC, Saenz struck out two batters and allowed just one extra-base hit in the 2-1 game.
You're Out!: Sophomore first baseman Miah Corona collected 18 putouts in the Rattlers' 3-0 shutout win at Cameron on Sunday. It ties for the third-most in a single game in St. Mary's history, and is the most since Destiny Salinas had 20 on March 2, 2024. The 18 chances also tie for the fifth-most in Rattlers history.
Making the Switch: Head Coach Taylor Lira flipped Gabriela Banda and Bryley Westfahl, moving Banda from third to second base, and Westfahl the opposite. Banda made 10 plays at second without an error, while Westfahl had one miscue in 14 chances at third.
Seeing the Plate: Senior Ariella Saenz has struck out only three times in 68 at bats this season. She is hitting .250 on the year, and has only one K in her last 22 at bats.
In the Standings: St. Mary's is currently in eighth place in the Lone Star Conference standings with five weeks left in the regular season. The conference tournament takes the top nine teams, and will be at the site of the regular season champion.
Striking Early: Two of the last three home runs for the Rattlers have been on the first pitch of the at bat, as sophomore Izabella Valdez did so against TWU on March 20 to kick off the third inning, while junior Samiya Johnson took the first pitch of her at bat in the seventh inning of game two over the left field fence. The other was the home run to win game one at OC by Gabriela Banda on a 2-1 count.
Making the Most: Freshman Peyton Miers saw her first action in three weeks and made the most of her opportunity, singling in a pinch-hitting role at OC and going 2-for-4 with an RBI in game two at Cameron. The 3-for-5 weekend raised Miers batting average almost 100 points.
A Shutout for You and You: Senior Breanna Ford became the fourth Rattler pitcher to throw a shutout this season when she defeated Midwestern State 2-0 on March 6. Ford allowed only two hits over the seven innings, striking out two and not walking a batter. She joins Emery Aguilar, Emily Ayala and Ariella Saenz on the shutout list. It is the first time in the school's Division II era that four different pitchers have thrown a complete game shutout, though in 1999 four pitchers through shutouts and all five hurlers were involved in a shutout during the year.
Chaos on the Bases: St. Mary's has stolen 77 bases in 2026, leading the Lone Star and ranking 36th nationally with 2.11 stolen bases per game. The 77 swipes already ranks 10th on the St. Mary's single-season list for most steals. The record for the most swipes in a year is 128 by the 1990 team (128-140).
Taking the Extra Base: Bryley Westfahl leads the team with 24 steals which ranks 22nd in the nation and leads the LSC. There are 14 players on the team who have stolen a base this season, and seven besides Westfahl who have successfully stolen three or more bases in Raegan Tennill (10-10), Abigail Dela Rosa (10-11), Iliana Melendez (9-9), Gabriela Banda (5-5), Peyton Miers (4-4), Miah Corona (3-4) and Emma Wilson (3-4).
Setting the Table: Junior Bryley Westfahl is 24-for-59 (.407) this season when leading off an inning, while Iliana Melendez, the number two hitter in the lineup is 11-for-16 (.688) when the first batter in an inning. The Rattlers as a team are hitting at a .415 clip to begin the frame, up from .300 overall.
Back-to-Back Jacks: For the first time this season, a pair of St. Mary's hitters left the yard on consecutive at bats as Ariella Saenz and Izabella Valdez hit home runs in the seventh at Texas Woman's (Feb. 28). It is the 34th time in the school's Division II era (2000-present) that players have hit back-to-back home runs in a game.
Making Milestones: Seniors Abigail Dela Rosa and Raegan Tennill both recorded hitting milestones in Oklahoma. Dela Rosa posted the 100th hit for her career, while Tennill hit 150 and collected RBI #100. Gabriela Banda is seven RBI shy of 100 for her career.
On the Fly: St. Mary's is second the Lone Star and ranks 14th in all of Division II in sacrifice flies, hitting 16 through the first 37 games of the season. Gabriela Banda and Izabella Valdez are 54th nationally with three each.
Double Trouble: Head Coach Taylor Lira wants the tradition of St. Mary's ranking among the best in the nation in double plays to continue. In five of the last six seasons the Rattlers have ranked in the top 40 in Division II in double plays, including ranking third in 2021. This year's team has already turned 17, ranking 7th out of 265 teams.
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 the first week. Tennill breaks the school record of 12 held by Vianna Gutierrez-Touchtone (2012-15).
