April 26, 2007
San Antonio – Malissa Magee picked up her 25th win of the season and the St. Mary’s University offense pounded out 12 hits as the Rattlers defeated Montana State University-Billings, 5-3, in action at the Heartland Conference Softball Tournament Thursday night at Rattler Field.
Magee (Jr., Houston) was in complete control throughout, allowing just one run on two hits and two walks, while striking out eight. The only blemish on her performance was a solo homerun by Jessica Frank in the fifth inning. Magee improved to 25-8 this season with the win. Lindsey Trenary fell to 5-5, allowing five runs on 11 hits and one walk, while striking out two in 4.1 innings of work.
The Rattlers drew first blood when Brittany Kettinger (Jr., Azle) singled to lead off the second inning, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and came home when Jenna Saucedo (So., San Antonio) popped a single down the right field line. Two innings later they expanded the lead when Sarah Cooper (Jr., Houston) brought home Nikki Flores (So., Friendswood) on a ground out and Mary K Pederson (Jr., Houston) followed with a double to score Saucedo. A Flores RBI single and a Lindsay Magaro (Sr., Elmendorf) double wrapped up the scoring for the Rattlers in the fifth inning.
In other action Thursday afternoon, #4 seed University of the Incarnate Word defeated #5 Lincoln University 7-0 behind a six-hit shutout by Judyann Gonzalez and two homeruns from Patty Madera. #3 MSUB defeated #6 Oklahoma Panhandle State University in the second game of the day, 4-1. #1 St. Edward’s scored the game-winning run on an error with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning to edge UIW 2-1.
Friday will start with a pair of elimination games. Lincoln will take on Montana State-Billing at 11 a.m. That will be followed by OPUS and Incarnate Word at 1:30 p.m. The top two seeds in the tournament #2 St. Mary’s and #1 St. Edward’s will hook up in the winner’s bracket semifinals at 4 p.m., with the winner advancing to the tournament championship game. The final game of the day will feature the winners of the first two games of the day at 6:30 p.m.
2007 Heartland Conference Tournament Schedule
Rattler Field, St. Mary’s University Campus, San Antonio, Texas
Thursday, April 26
Game 1 – Incarnate Word 7, Lincoln 0
Game 2 – Montana State-Billings 4, Oklahoma Panhandle State 1
Game 3 – St. Edward’s 2, Incarnate Word 1 (8 Innings)
Game 4 – St. Mary’s 5, Montana State-Billings 3
Friday, April 27
Game 5 – #5 Lincoln vs. #3 Montana State-Billings, 11 a.m.
Game 6 – #6 Oklahoma Panhandle State vs. #4 Incarnate Word, 1:30 p.m.
Game 7 – #1 St. Edward’s vs. #2 St. Mary’s, 4 p.m.
Game 8 – Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 6:30 p.m.