San Antonio – Having squandered Emily Brittain’s gem on the rubber hours earlier, the St. Mary’s Lady Rattlers weren’t about to make the same mistake twice.

They knew their bats had to come to life the second time around.

Rebounding from a 2-1 loss to Texas A&M-Kingsville in the front end of a doubleheader Tuesday, the Rattlers’ bats responded by crushing the Javelinas 8-2 in the nightcap at St. Mary’s Softball Fields.

In Game 1, Brittain (Fr., Corpus Christi, Texas) carried a no-hitter into the top of the seventh inning, but it wasn’t enough with the Rattlers unable to offer up any run support.

“Any time our defense is stepping it up, we want to do it offensively,” shortstop Richelle Morales (Jr., San Antonio) said. “We know the more we’re going to get, the more comfortable they’re going to get on that pitching mound.”

The Rattlers ended up doing just that, improving to 8-3 on the season.

Third baseman Chelsea Wenske (Sr., Victoria, Texas) drove in two runs and scored twice on a 3-for-4 showing at the plate in Game 2, while catcher Kelly Baker (Sr., Arlington, Texas), pitcher Heather Haas (Sr., Shiner, Texas), leftfielder Lauren Miller (Sr., Baytown, Texas), second baseman Alyssa Alfaro (Sr., Eagle Pass, Texas) and pinch-hitter Alex Garcia (So., San Antonio) each drove in one run apiece.

Haas struck out a pair over four innings to pick up the victory to improve to 4-0 on the season, while Maricela Bissaro (Fr., San Antonio) collected the save with three solid innings in relief.

WATCH THE LADY RATTLERS’ VICTORY

Brittain had the kind of performance that warranted a win, blanking the Javelinas through six innings as the game entered the seventh deadlocked at 0-0. But all A&M Kingsville needed was a few hits – four, to be exact – to pull away. They scored twice in the top of the seventh, and while the Rattlers answered with a run in the bottom of the frame, it wasn’t enough.

That wasn’t the case in Game 2.

St. Mary’s rocked A&M Kingsville for two runs in the first inning and tacked on four more in the third to jump to a quick 6-0 lead. Kingsville scored in the fifth to make it 6-1, but the Rattlers responded with two more runs to lead 8-2 by the bottom of the frame.

The Rattlers’ bats showed glimpses of doing that in the tail end of Game 1.

Outfielder Lauren Miller (Sr., Baytown, Texas) reached with one out in the bottom of the seventh on a throwing error from the second baseman, and shortstop Richelle Morales then drove her in with a double.

Trailing 2-1, second baseman Shelly Lee (So., San Antonio) – the late-inning hero in last week’s victory over Abilene Christian – came to the plate with the tying run at second, but Lee lined out to third base to end the game.

Brittain (3-2 on the season) struck out four and allowed four hits in the game. Centerfielder Katie Nichols (So., San Marcos) accounted for two of St. Mary’s four hits in the game, going 2 for 3 at the plate.

St. Mary’s will return to the diamond when it hosts Emporia State at 11 a.m. Thursday, which can be watched live at rattlerathletics.com.

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