May 10, 2010
San Antonio – The St. Mary’s University softball team will head to its ninth NCAA Division II South Central Region Tournament this week. The eighth seeded Rattlers (34-19 overall) will face top seeded Midwestern State in the first round of the tournament on Friday at noon.
St. Mary’s enters the tournament on a roll, having won its last six games, including an 8-7 decision over St. Edward’s University in the Heartland Conference Tournament Championship game. Midwestern State University was the Lone Star Conference regular season champion. MSU is currently ranked third in the nation in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll and has a 50-8 record.
The Rattlers are led by Taryn Munoz (Sr., Bulverde, Texas), who has a 22-12 record on the mound with a 2.88 ERA, 26 complete games and 5 shutouts. She has struck out 144 in 208.2 innings of work and opposing batters are hitting just .236 against her. She was named Heartland Conference Tournament MVP after going 3-0 at the tournament. Offensively Katie Nichols (Fr., San Marcos, Texas) leads the Rattlers with a .365 average, 4 homeruns, 27 RBI and 35 runs scored. Alyssa Alfaro (Jr., Eagle Pass, Texas) is hitting .340 with 10 doubles, 9 homeruns, 37 RBI and 33 runs scored.
The South Central Region Tournament berth is the ninth for St. Mary’s in 10 years as a member of NCAA Division II. The Rattlers have won the South Central Region title four times and have a 19-10 record at the tournament. St. Mary’s last went to the South Central Region Tournament in 2008.
2010 NCAA South Central Region Tournament Schedule
Regional #1
Friday, May 14
Game 1 – (#1) Midwestern State vs. (#8) St. Mary’s, Noon
Game 2 – (#4) Nebraska-Omaha vs. (#5) West Texas A&M, 2:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 15
Game 3 – Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 11 a.m.
Game 4 – Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 1:30 p.m.
Game 5 – Loser Game 4 vs. Winner Game 3, 4 p.m.
Sunday, May 16
Game 6 – Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5, 1 p.m.
Game 7 – Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 (if necessary), 3:30 p.m.