February 18, 2007
San Antonio – St. Mary’s University defeated Southern Arkansas 7-5 to finish in third place at the Mustang Invitational Softball Tournament, held Saturday at the Wichita Falls Softball Complex. The Rattlers went 2-2 at the tournament after falling to Northeastern State University 3-2 in the first game of the day and to host Midwestern State University 2-1 in eight innings in the second game.
In the final game of the day the Rattlers fell behind 5-2 after three innings. Malissa Magee (Jr., Houston) came on in relief for her third game of the day and was nearly unhittable, retiring 12 of the 13 batters she faced, including four strikeouts in four innings. She improved to 6-3 this season with the win.
With the Rattlers down 5-2 heading into the fourth inning two Southern Arkansas errors opened the door for the Rattlers. Three of the first four St. Mary’s batters of the inning reached, including two on errors, to load the bases. Kelsey Walker (Jr., San Antonio) then came up and smacked a two-run single to score Jenna Saucedo (So., San Antonio) and Lindsay Magaro (Sr., Elmendorf) and cut the deficit to 5-4. Lindsay Barnes (Jr., San Antonio) followed with a single to left-center, scoring Sarah Cooper (Jr., Houston) to tie the game at 5-5. A Taryn Munoz (Fr., Bulverde) single gave the Rattlers the lead at 6-5.
In the first game of the day the Rattlers took an early 2-0 lead, but were unable to score the rest of the way and fell by a 3-2 count against Northeastern State. Brittany Kettinger (Jr., Azle) plated two runs with a trip to right-center, which scored Barnes and Cooper. NSU scored an unearned run in the third inning, then added two in the bottom of the sixth inning to edge the Rattlers and end St. Mary’s five-game win streak.
The second game of the day was a pitchers duel between the Rattlers’ Kettinger and the Mustangs Katie Petersen. Kettinger allowed one run on six hits and two walks over 5 1/3 innings of work. Magee came on in relief and struck out four in 2 2/3 innings, while allowing just one unearned run.
With Saturday’s results St. Mary’s is now 11-4 overall this season. The Rattlers will return to action on Tuesday when they host the University of the Incarnate Word in a doubleheader at 5 p.m. at Rattler Field.