ABILENE, Texas – The St. Mary’s Lady Rattlers closed out Abilene Christian’s Whitten Inn Classic with two more victories Sunday, defeating Texas Woman’s 12-2 in five innings before edging West Texas A&M 7-4.

St. Mary’s (7-2 overall) finished the tournament with a 3-1 record, with its lone loss coming to host Abilene Christian on Saturday.

A wild, 10-run second inning fueled the Rattlers past Texas Woman’s, as three St. Mary’s players homered in that inning alone. Outfielder Lauren Miller (Sr., Baytown, Texas) fired a two-run blast to right field, while shortstop Richelle Morales (Jr., San Antonio) had a solo shot to left-center in the very next at-bat.

Later on, third baseman Chelsea Wenske (Sr., Shiner, Texas) added a grand slam to give the Rattlers an 8-0 lead – an advantage that would swell to 11-0 by inning’s end.

Wenske finished 1 for 4 with four RBIs and one run scored, while Miller went 2 for 3 with two RBIs and a run scored. Morales, catcher Kelly Baker (Sr., Arlington, Texas) and center fielder Katie Nichols (So., San Marcos) each added an RBI apiece.

Things were tighter against West Texas A&M, but the Lady Rattlers still enjoyed a single big inning to help guide their victory.

After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the first, they bounced back to score four in the bottom of the frame to take a comfortable lead.

Jared Gonzalez (So., San Antonio) and Miller had RBI singles in the inning, while Morales added a two-RBI single to the right side for the 4-1 lead.

Heather Haas (So., Shiner, Texas) collected the victory in Game 2, striking out two in three innings pitched. Emily Brittain (Fr., Corpus Christi, Texas), who picked up the victory against Texas Woman’s, added four innings in relief, yielding one earned run and striking out four.

At the plate, Miller went 2 for 4 with three RBIs and a run scored, while Nichols went 2 for 4 with an RBI and two runs scored.

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