St. Mary's comes back for split with Hounds

Coming into this weekend’s season-ending Lone Star Conference series against St. Mary’s, Eastern New Mexico University’s softball team knew its work wasn’t quite done in a bid for an LSC tournament berth.

It was done before Friday’s series-opening doubleheader, though.

St. Edward’s, trailing the Greyhounds by two games, played its series at Texas Woman’s early this week due to weather concerns for the weekend in the Denton area. Needing a sweep – and three losses by the Hounds – the Rattlers dropped two of three to the Pioneers, clinching the No. 10 seed for ENMU.

The Hounds, though, left no doubt, belting four home runs in an 11-7 first-game win over St. Mary’s. The Rattlers came back for a 5-3 win in Game 2.

Senior third baseman Alondra Vasquez homered in each game, while junior catcher Samantha Gutierrez, senior designated player Taighen Whitzel and sophomore pitcher Marissa Rodriguez all went yard in the opener.

The four homers accounted for eight runs for ENMU (25-24, 18-23 LSC), which was outhit 17-11. Meantime, the Rattlers had two doubles and the rest singles.

“They challenge our pitching staff,” longtime Rattlers coach Donna Fields said. “The long ball hurt us. You’ve got to keep the ball in the park.”

St. Mary’s (30-23, 25-16) left 23 runners on base in the two games, including 14 in the opener.

Freshman center fielder Judith Osuna, batting ninth, started a four-run rally in the third with a double and led off a five-run fourth with a single as ENMU turned a 1-0 deficit into a 9-4 advantage in the opener.

“She’s been one of those silent workers for us,” Hounds coach Amanda Fefel said. “I’m proud of how she’s approached the season. I think things are starting to pay off for her.”

Two-run homers by Gutierrez, her 10th, and Vasquez, her 11th, gave the Hounds a 4-1 lead in the third. Whitzel delivered a two-run double and Rodriguez smashed a three-run homer in the fourth before Whitzel led off a two-run sixth with her 12th home run.

Vasquez then tied Whitsell with her 12th homer, three-run shot in the first inning of Game 2, but the Hounds were blanked the rest of the way by Rattlers junior right-hander Madeline Bloom (6-7).

“When I came here (last season), my goal was to put the ball in play,” said Vasquez, who is from the Dominican Republic and is sporting a .340 average this season. “I wasn’t as disciplined as I need to be. I was swinging out of my shoes.”

She said the Hounds tried to approach the series the same way they would if they still needed a win to qualify for the LSC meet.

“My goal was still the same,” she said. “I wanted to come out here and have fun. Our mindset never changed.”

Rodriguez (12-10) and second-game starter Jordan Rivera (5-5) have been carrying the pitching load lately with junior Emma Southerland away from the team. Both threw more than 160 pitches in complete games on Friday.

”The run support helped,” Fefel said of the outing by Rodriguez in the opener. “I told her, ‘Even if you just have your ‘C’ game, you’ve still got to make your pitches.”

St. Mary’s 2-3-4 hitters – junior third baseman Raegan Tennill, senior center fielder Reba Reyes and junior catcher Jamison Holder – went a combined 10-for-14 with six RBIs in the opener. Holder went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer in the first and senior second baseman Ericka Gomez was 3-for-5 for the Rattlers, who entered the final weekend battling Oklahoma Christian and Lubbock Christian for fourth place in the standings.

Bloom finished with a seven-hitter.

“This was a good win for her,” Fields said. “These were two tight games. We knew was it was going to be a challenge for us.”