STEPHENVILLE - The Tarleton TexAnns took both games against the St. Mary's Lady Rattlers on Friday, winning game one in the 8^th inning by the score of 4-3 and the second 7-4.

Katie Smith got the win in the nightcap by pitching a complete game with eight hits, three earned runs, and four strikeouts.

Arianna Rodriguez went three-for-six on the afternoon with a home run, two runs and three runs batted in.  Julie Norris also hit a home run on the afternoon while scoring three runs on two hits. The TexAnns finished the day with a .308 batting average while holding the opponents to a .262 average.

 The TexAnns will return to action at Incarnate Word on Tuesday, March 2. The doubleheader in San Antonio will begin at 2 p.m.

Tarleton 4, St. Mary's 3 (8^th inning)

The TexAnns scored first in the bottom of the third inning as Arianna Rodriguez opened the inning with a double to left center field. A sacrifice bunt by Amy Gabbert moved Rodriguez to third, who then scored on a Meagan Eldridge single.

Tarleton added another run in the bottom of the fifth when Eldridge walked with one out. Rebecca Wessels sacrificed the runner to second before a Tami Sutton single scored Eldridge to give the TexAnns a two-run lead.

In the top of the sixth, St. Mary's scored one run on three hits to cut the lead to one run. Then in the top of the next frame, a two-run homer by Christina Rodriguez put the visitors on top 3-2.

In the bottom of the seventh, the TexAnns loaded the bases and Brittany Terry walked to score Eldridge from third and tie the game.

St. Mary's put runners on second and third with one out but Tarleton stopped the threat. Norris was placed at second due to the international tie-breaker rule. April Gonzalez sacrificed the pitcher to third, who then scored when Victoria Kelly reached on an error, giving the TexAnns the victory.

Norris pitched all eight innings, allowed eight hits, three earned runs and three walks while striking out four hitters. Taryn Munoz pitched 7.1 innings for the Lady Rattlers, allowed six hits, five walks and struck out no TexAnns.

  “We never quit. Our defense held up throughout the game and when it came to extra innings we were confident that we had the speed to win because of the international tie-breaker,” said head coach Julie Mata. “Victoria Kelly came up huge for us today and was a big part in taking home the victory.”

 Tarleton 7, St. Mary's 4

The TexAnns struck first in the nightcap. With one out, Tami Sutton and Terry both singled prior to a base-clearing blast from Norris to give the TexAnns a 3-0 advantage.

In the bottom of the third inning with runners on first and second, Kelly stepped to the plate for the TexAnns and hit the ball through the right side, bringing Terry around for another run. Rodriguez then hit a three-run shot to extend the TexAnn lead to 7-0.

In the top of the sixth, St. Mary's was able to cut the lead to three. After an error and single put runners on the corners, a home run cleared the bases. The next batter for the Lady Rattlers came up and hit another blast to right field to put the score at 7-4. 

“Katie was able to hit her spots very well in the first few innings. After the sixth inning, she was able to come back out and start finding them again,” said Mata. “St. Mary's hits the ball very well and Katie did a good job in holding them for most of the day.”