February 7, 2010
San Antonio – Heather Haas was the winning pitcher in both games, helping St. Mary’s University to a sweep of games against Midwestern State University and Texas A&M University-Kingsville in softball action on the final day of the St. Mary’s NCAA Division II College Classic, played Sunday afternoon at the San Antonio Independent School District Spring Sports Classic.
In the Rattlers first game, against Midwestern State, St. Mary’s took an early 3-0 lead, only to see the Mustangs rally to tie the game in the sixth. Haas (Fr., Shiner, Texas) came on in relief with one out and the bases loaded in the sixth and retired two of the next three batters to get the Rattlers out of the inning. That gave St. Mary’s the chance to rally in the seventh. With two outs, Kelly Baker (Jr., Arlington, Texas) walked and Haas followed with a single. That brought up Christina Rodriguez (Fr., San Antonio), who doubled home Baker to give the Rattlers the victory.
In the second game of the day the Rattlers fell behind 3-0 early, but staged their own rally, not once, but twice to pick up the win. With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Rodriguez hit a ground ball that second baseman Beth Etter misplayed, allowing two runners to score and keeping the inning alive. That brought up Haas, who singled to tie the game at 3-3.
An error in the top of the seventh led to an unearned run as TAMUK took a 4-3 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh. With one out Baker walked and Arlynda Flores (Sr., Uvalde, Texas) singled. Rodriguez walked to load the bases. Chelsea Wenske (Jr., Shiner, Texas) grounded a ball to first base, which was booted by Jenn Hall, allowing both pinch runner Lia Provence (Jr., Bastrop, Texas) and Flores to score, giving the Rattlers the come-from-behind win.
With the wins, St. Mary’s is now 5-0 this season and tied for the tournament championship with Angelo State University. The Rattlers will return to action on Friday, Feb. 12, when they travel to Las Vegas, Nev., for the Desert Stinger Classic.
St. Mary’s 4, Midwestern State 3 (Feb 07, 2010 at San Antonio TX)