The Saints baseball team completed a three-game sweep of Xavier University of Louisiana, winning 14-1, 10-2 and 17-3, this past weekend.
OLLU improves to 26-18 overall and 17-9 in the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC). The Gold Rush fall to 16-22 overall and 7-20 in RRAC play. The Saints have won six of their previous seven games.
The Saints will play their last home games April 28-29 against the University of the Southwest.
The volleyball team won its 11th consecutive match and remains undefeated after the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) 3-0 two-match sweep over Xavier University of Louisiana. The Saints improve to 16-4 overall and 12-0 in the RRAC, while the Gold Nuggets drop to 15-7 overall and 10-2 in conference.
Head Coach Scott Mattera commented, “Wow, I can’t say enough about how much this team has grown over the past couple of months. We’ve been talking about this weekend since they ended our season last year so to come in to New Orleans and sweep both matches is big time stuff. We’ll celebrate this but also get back to work as we’ve still got room to grow. We know there are a lot of teams that will be coming for us at the conference tourney including this very talented Xavier squad!”
History
The Saints are 5-2 against the Gold Nuggets. Last year, the Saints lost 1-3 and 2-3.
Basics – Match One, Oct. 22
The Saints took the lead at the start of the first set and led for most of the period. They dominated through the 17th point when Xavier tied, and again at 18 and 19. After a kill from Tijana Kruta, the Saints scored five straight points to win 25-20.
The teams were more evenly matched in the second set as the Saints took an early lead and then Xavier took over at 7-6. Set leads switched between teams for most of the game. With the score tied at 22, the Saints scored three consecutive points on Lauren Reynard’s serve to win the second set 25-22.
Xavier threatened in the third set as the Gold Nuggets went up 5-3. They continued to lead 12-11 and an ace from Camila Ramirez tied the score. The teams tied at 17 and 18, and an ace from Julissa Casas gave the Saints the edge at 20-18. Casas served to four more points for match point, and a kill from Kruta gave the Saints the win at 25-22.
On the offense
Overall, the Saints tallied 38 kills with 22 errors on 134 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .119. Xavier had 27 kills with 23 errors on 112 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .036.
Mia Dorsey led the Saints with 11 kills. Taylor McGeen had seven kills for Xavier.
Lauren Reynard assisted on 31 plays for the Saints while Emi Riglioni tallied 11 assists for Xavier.
Defensive standouts
OLLU had a total of 54 digs, led by Tina Trevino and Camila Ramirez with 12 each. Kennedy Wade tallied 14 digs for the Gold Nuggets.
Madalyn Gonzalez totaled six blocks for the Saints, while Kendall Mack had six for Xavier.
Serving it up
Mia Dorsey added two aces for the Saints.
Basics – Match Two, Oct. 23
The teams battled in the first set but the Saints were able to take a substantial 15-9 lead. Xavier fought back to tie at 20 and then pulled ahead 23-20. An error on Camila Ramirez pushed Xavier to set point at 24-21. Kills from Rebekah Bustamante, Ramirez and Madalyn Gonzalez tied the set at 24. The teams tied again at 25 and 26, and a kill from Mia Dorsey followed by an ace from Ramirez gave the Saints set point at 27-26. Xavier’s Stella Dineva’s error ended the set with the Saints winning 28-26.
Xavier started strong in the second game pushing ahead 9-5, and four consecutive kills from Ramirez gave the Saints the 11-10 lead. The Saints continued to dominate to win 25-21.
OLLU kept the set close through the fifth point when an ace from Julissa Casas gave the Saints the 7-6 lead. While Xavier was only able to score seven more points, the Saints continued to score to win 25-15.
On the offense
Overall, the Saints tallied 39 kills with 18 errors on 110 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .191. Xavier had 34 kills with 17 errors on 97 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .175.
Mia Dorsey led the Saints with 11 kills. Kennedy Wade had 13 kills for Xavier.
Lauren Reynard assisted on 26 plays for the Saints while Emi Riglioni tallied 12 assists for Xavier.
Defensive standouts
OLLU had a total of 42 digs, led by Camila Ramirez with eight. Linda Mungai tallied 11 digs for the Gold Nuggets.
Serving it up
Camila Ramirez and Julissa Casas had four service aces each.
What’s next
The Saints will host Texas College on Oct. 28 for a Red River Athletic Conference two-match series.
The softball team won its Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) doubleheader against Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) 3-2 and 8-1 on March 19. The Saints move to 19-8 overall and 6-4 in the conference, while XULA drops to 8-16 overall and 4-3 in the conference.
Head Coach Bruce Lenington commented, “I am really proud of our team to get the sweep today. Great pitching from Cassie (Cassandra Valdez (JR/Brownsville, Texas)), Angela Ramirez (SR/Converse, Texas) and Kelly Anne Salinas (JR/Laredo, Texas) made our defense look good.”
Pre-game
Before the beginning of the game, the Saints honored senior Ariel Montgomery (SR/Castroville, Texas). She was escorted by her mother Peaches Montgomery, grandfather Ernie Montgomery, grandmother Kitty Montgomery, uncle Clay Montgomery, sister Elektra Montgomery and brother Triton Johns.
Montgomery is a native of Castroville, Texas, where she attended Medina Valley High School. She joined the Saints in the 2019-2020 season and has played in 128 games and has had 349 at-bats, 64 runs, 114 hits, 25 doubles, two triples, 18 home runs, 80 RBIs and 24 walks. She has a .615 slugging percentage, .677 on-base percentage and a .344 batting average. On the field, she has 416 putouts, 65 assists and a .974 fielding percentage. Her pitching stats include a 3.92 ERA, 10 wins, 10 losses, 131.4 innings pitched and 75 strikeouts.
Montgomery was selected to the All-Tournament team in 2021 and the Champions of Character team in 2019. In 2020, she earned Player of the Week honors.
Game one, 3-2
Cassandra Valdez pitched all seven innings for the Saints and allowed four hits and two runs while striking out eight and walking two.
Xavier scored first to open the game. Madison Winston reached base on a Saints’ error, and she later came home after Mecolett Bradley hit a double.
The Gold Nuggets added a run in the third inning. McKenzie Guillory hit a double to start the inning, and she scored on a hit from Bradley to give XULA the 2-0 lead.
Madison Nunn (SR/Cibolo, Texas) opened the fourth inning with a short hit to the catcher. Kayla Dreese (SR/San Antonio, Texas) walked and Montgomery drove her in on her infield hit. A sac-fly from Julissa Moreno (JR/Austin, Texas) scored Nunn to move the game to 2-2.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Joanna Gonzalez (SR/San Benito, Texas) got a walk-off hit to score Deandra Vera (JR/Uvalde, Texas) and give the Saints the 3-2 win.
Montgomery led the Saints on offense, going 2-for-3 and adding an RBI.
Game two, 8-1
Angela Ramirez started in the circle for the Saints. She pitched four innings and allowed three hits and a run to earn the win. Kelly Anne Salinas pitched in relief for three innings and she allowed two hits.
After a hitless top of the first, the Saints’ bats came to life to score three runs. Dreese hit an infield single, and she scored off a hit from Moreno. Rebecca Duran (SR/Austin, Texas) doubled, sending Moreno and Montgomery home to take the 3-0 lead.
The Saints returned on offense in the second inning to add four more runs. With Jennifer Estrada (SR/El Paso, Texas) on base, Nunn homered to left-center. After Dreese reached base, Montgomery hit a double to send her home. Moreno got in a sac-fly giving Montgomery the opportunity to score to give the Saints the 7-0 lead.
In the fourth inning, Dreese scored the Saints’ eighth run after a hit from Caitlin Terrazas (SR/Atascosa, Texas).
The Gold Nuggets prevented a shutout in the fifth on a run from Vivionna Robles after a Saints’ error. The Saints won 8-1.
Dreese went 3-for-4 and added three runs. Montgomery hit 2-for-2 adding two runs and an RBI. Terrazas also hit two and added an RBI. Moreno and Duran had two RBIs each.
Up next
The Saints will travel to Hobbs, N.M., to play the University of the Southwest on March 25.