April 13, 2008

St. Mary's swept Texas A&M International University in Heartland Conference action on Sunday afternoon at Rattler Field in San Antonio. The 23rd ranked Rattlers prevailed 5-2 in game one and 8-4 in game two, wrapping a 4-0 series and season sweep over the Dustdevils.

St. Mary's took advantage of two early TAMIU errors in the opener, jumping out to a 5-0 lead after two innings. In the meantime the first 10 Dustdevil batters were retired before Samantha García reached first base after being hit by a pitch in the fourth inning.

García would score an unearned run later that inning and the Dustdevils would add another run on a RBI single by Ryanne Chapman in the sixth inning. Marissa Jiménez (0-1) took the loss after allowing five runs (one earned) on seven hits in a 5.0 inning outing.

TAMIU (12-28, 8-12 Heartland) jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the series finale. Victoria Beltrán started the scoring with a RBI single in the first inning. Janelle Ruiz pushed the lead to 4-1 when she was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the third inning.

St. Mary's (43-9, 19-1 Heartland) tied the score with three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning before taking an 8-4 lead with four runs in the sixth inning. García reached second base with two outs in the top of the seventh inning before Amanda DeGeus grounded out to shortstop to end the game.

Beltrán (7-11) took the loss after allowing eight earned runs on 16 hits.

TAMIU returns to action next weekend with a Heartland Conference series at Lincoln. The Dustdevils and Blue Tigers will play doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday and noon on Sunday.