SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – The Texas A&M-Kingsville softball team split a pair of road games at St. Mary’s losing the first game, 7-0 and winning the second game, 3-2.

The first game was all Rattlers (14-10) as Emily Brittain tossed her second shutout of the season against the Javelinas (9-12). She allowed only two hits and no walks while striking out four.

The Rattler offense cracked two home runs in the first inning by Taylor Vidrine and Richelle Morales and they got another home run in the fourth inning from Alex Rodriguez. Overall, they had 10 hits in the game with Shelly Lee Zawadzki and Ashley Behabetz leading the way with two hits apiece.

The Javelinas never got a runner past first base the entire game. Lindsey Brown (Spring/Spring HS) fell to 7-5 on the season in the circle pitching a complete game and allowing four earned runs.

In the second game, the Javelinas jumped out to an early lead. Yvette Berlanga (San Antonio/O’Connor HS) and Brown each had first inning, run-scoring singles.

The Rattlers scored a run in the bottom half of the first inning. They had chances to score in the second and third innings, but each time Denise Arnold (Katy/Katy HS) was able to get out of the jam.

The Hoggies went up 3-1 in the top of the fifth inning when Roxanne Rodriguez (Portland/Gregory-Portland HS) was walked with the bases loaded.

The Rattlers pulled to within a run in the bottom of the sixth. Then, in the bottom of the seventh, Zawadzki led off with a walk, advanced to second on a passed ball and moved on to third thanks to a sacrifice bunt. Arnold buckled down to strike out the next batter and induced a pop up from the final batter to secure the win.

The Javelinas finished with seven hits in the game. Berlanga had a pair of singles and two stolen bases while Amber Cherry (Splendora/Splendora HS) scored twice in the game. Arnold allowed eight hits and four walks while striking out three, but only let two runs score to earn her second win of the season.

Vianna Gutierrez suffered the loss in a complete game. Christina Rodriguez and Jared Gonzalez each had two hits for the Rattlers.

The Javelinas are back in action on Friday at home against Lone Star Conference rival Tarleton State for a doubleheader starting at 4 p.m.
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