April 12, 2008
San Antonio – Malissa Magee tossed her sixth shutout in her last seven starts and Heather Monroe had the game-winning hit in game two as 23rd-ranked St. Mary’s University edged Texas A&M International-University, 3-0, 2-1, in Heartland Conference softball action Saturday afternoon at Rattler Field.
Magee (Sr., Katy) allowed just two base runners in her seven innings of work, with Samantha Garcia and Janelle Ruiz each reaching with a single. No base runner advanced past second base in the game. Magee finished with her 15th shutout of the season, tying the school record for a single season and struck out 10 batters to improve to 28-5. She is second in the nation in wins this season.
The Rattlers took the early lead in game one. Sade Moore (Jr., Angleton) singled and moved to second on a Mary K Pederson (Sr., Houston) single to right. One out later Lindsay Barnes (Sr., San Antonio) gave the Rattlers the lead with a single to center. St. Mary’s put the game away in the fourth inning. Kelly Baker (Fr., Arlington) smashed her fifth homerun of the season and Lia Provence (Fr., Bastrop) doubled home Nikki Flores (Jr., Friendswood) to give the Rattlers a 3-0 lead.
In the second game Taryn Munoz (So., Bulverde) picked up her 12th win of the season, allowing just one run on five hits, while striking out four. She is now 12-3 this season.
TAMIU made things interesting early after the Rattlers took the lead in the first inning. Moore doubled down the leftfield line to lead off and scored when Arlynda Flores (So., Uvalde) singled to left, giving St. Mary’s a 1-0 lead. But Courtney Smith, who entered play on Saturday with a 1-8 record, settled down and retired the next 11 batters to give her team a chance to get back into the game. They cashed in during the third inning.
With two outs in the third Gretel Trejo singled to right and Garcia followed with a single to left. Angel Montejano smacked the third straight base hit for the Dustdevils, driving the ball to left-center. Trejo scored on the play and it looked as if Garcia would follow. But the throw home from Sade Moore was in time for Baker to tag out Garcia for the third out of the inning.
That was where the score would stay until the fifth inning. With one out Lauren Miller (Fr., Baytown) reached on an error and moved to second on a ground out. That brought up Monroe (So., New Braunfels) who lined a single to left, scoring Miller with the go-ahead run.
With the sweep of TAMIU, St. Mary’s improved to 41-9 overall and 17-1 in Heartland Conference play. The Rattlers have won 17 of their last 20 games, including the last five in a row. The Dustdevils fell to 12-26, 8-10. The two teams will wrap up their four-game series with a doubleheader on Sunday, starting at 10 a.m. at Rattler Field. The games will be broadcast live over the internet at www.rattlerathletics.com.