February 8, 2008
San Antonio – The St. Mary’s University bats heated up on Friday and the Rattlers pounded out 17 runs on 18 hits as the Rattlers defeated Cameron University and Northeastern State University in action at the CBS Insurance Classic Friday afternoon at Wells Field. The Rattlers defeated Cameron 10-8 and Northeastern State 7-6.
In the first game of the day the Rattlers fell behind 4-0 to Cameron after three innings. The turning point came in the fourth inning. Lindsay Barnes (Sr., San Antonio) singled to lead off and one out later Lauren Miller (Fr., Baytown) singled to put runners on first and second. Jenna Saucedo (Jr., Elmendorf) doubled to score the first run of the inning. A wild pitch scored Miller and when Kelly Baker (Fr., Arlington) reached on an error Saucedo scored to make it a 4-2 game. The second straight error by the Aggies allowed Nikki Flores (Jr., Friendswood) to reach and one out later Sade Moore (Jr., Angleton) walked to load the bases. That brought up Mary K Pederson (Sr., Houston), who singled to score two runs, giving the Rattlers the lead at 5-4.
Two innings later the Rattlers increased their lead to 10-4 with another five-run inning. Flores led off with a double and Sarah Cooper (Sr., Houston) reached on an error. Moore singled home Flores and Pederson singled to score Cooper. One out later Chelsea Wenske (Fr., Shiner) smashed her second homerun of the season, a three-run shot to wrap up the scoring for the Rattlers.
Cameron rallied with four runs in the top of the seventh to make it a two-run game, but Malissa Magee (Sr., Katy) hung on for her fifth win of the season.
In the nightcap the two teams traded runs for six innings before exploding in the seventh. With the game tied at 3-3 heading into the top of the seventh inning, the Rattlers took a commanding 7-3 lead. Two errors by the Red Hawks helped the Rattlers score four runs on just one hit. Pederson had that one hit, a two-run single to score Cooper and Flores.
However, NSU rallied in the bottom of the inning with three runs on four hits before Magee struck out two of the last three batters to end the rally with the bases loaded.
With the two wins the Rattlers are now 7-2 overall this season and have won three of four at the CBS Insurance Classic and will wrap up play on Saturday. They will play Southeastern Oklahoma State University at 1 p.m. SOSU is one of just two teams to defeat the Rattlers this season.