Softball crowned RRAC Champions
The softball team split a doubleheader against No. 13-ranked Texas A&M University-Texarkana (TAMUT) on Saturday. The No. 25-ranked Saints finish the regular season with a 41-9 overall record and 23-5 mark in the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) – the best-ever conference finish in program history. The Eagles conclude the regular season at 36-10 overall and 20-6 in the conference. The Saints are crowned RRAC champions and champions of the West Division. Texarkana is the East Division champions.
Head Coach Bruce Lenington said, “Both games were examples of two great teams going head-to-head. I was so proud of the way our team handled the disappointment of losing game one. They stayed on course and found a way to win game two. We will continue to get better while we wait for the conference tournament. I hope the softball fans in San Antonio come out and support this great conference.”
History
The Saints were 4-6 against the Eagles prior to the doubleheader.
Game One, 0-1 (8 innings)
OLLU’s 24-game winning streak was snapped in game one of the doubleheader. Cassandra Valdez (JR/Brownsville, Texas) and Anna Westberry put on a spectacular pitching duel that went into extra innings. The Eagles scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning on a single with two outs. Valdez suffered the loss despite striking out 10 batters in 7.1 innings. Westberry leads the RRAC with a 1.15 ERA. The Saints were able to string together five hits but failed to score in the 1-0 defeat.
Julissa Moreno (JR/Austin, Texas) batted 1-for-3 with a double. Joanna Gonzalez (SR/San Benito, Texas) made 11 putouts behind the plate.
Game Two, 1-0
Game two was another pitching battle, but the Saints finished the regular season with a 1-0 victory. Ciera Martinez (SR/San Antonio, Texas) started in the circle for the Saints and allowed no earned runs in 4.1 innings of work. Valdez pitched the final 2.2 innings and also didn’t allow a run to earn the win. The lone run came in the top of the sixth inning for the Saints. Ariel Montgomery (SR/Castroville, Texas) singled to score Madison Nunn (SR/Cibolo, Texas). The 1-0 victory marks the 17th shutout for the Saints this season, which ties the program record.
Rebecca Duran (SR/Austin, Texas), Kayla Dreese (SR/San Antonio, Texas), Gonzalez and Montgomery all tallied a hit. Dreese recorded a stolen base and a sacrifice hit.
Saints single-season record-breaking statistics (as of April 23)
- .341 batting average
- .559 slugging percentage
- .449 on-base percentage
- 20 sacrifice flies
- 54 home runs
- 130 stolen bases
- 41 overall wins
- 9 overall losses
- 349 runs scored
- 5 conference losses
- 23 conference wins
Up next
The Saints will host the RRAC Championship Tournament from May 5-8. On the first day, the games will be held at St. Mary’s University, while the second day, games will be split between OLLU and St. Mary’s. On May 7-8, all games will take place at OLLU.