SAN ANGELO – The Angelo State softball team will face St. Mary's in the first round of the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Tournament in San Antonio on Thursday, May 5 at 4 p.m.
The Rambelles are 36-21 on the season and earned the South Central Region's No. 7 seed overall. ASU is 13-12 on the road this season and 3-3 at neutral sites. It is the 10th straight appearance in a NCAA Division II South Central Regional and the 13th time in the program's 15 years.
"It is an exciting time of year," Angelo State head softball coach Travis Scott said. "Our kids have battled some pressure over the last two or three weeks. We are playing the best we have right now. We feel we are good in the circle with Brandy Marlett, Morgan Hill and Kenedy Urbany. We are really good defensively and starting to get some time hits. We know we have tough competition but we are excited about going to a regional with two teams outside of our conference. We know we have a competitive regional and will have to play well. This season Angelo State is hitting .319 as a team and holding teams to a 3.04 ERA. The defense has a .972 fielding percentage which is No. 13th nationally. The Rambelles have the No. 6 best on base percentage at .424 and scored 6.12 runs per game."
ASU and St. Mary's are no strangers to each other facing each other 61 times prior to this meeting. The Rambelles hold the overall series 32-39 but the Rattlers own a 3-5 advantage in the playoffs. The last playoff meeting between these two schools was in 2014 with St. Mary's taking both games ending ASU's season. This will be the first meeting in the postseason in San Antonio since the 2005 season.
St. Mary's is 43-11 on the season and 25-7 at home. The Rattlers are hitting .327 on the year while holding teams to a .227 batting average. The pitching staff maintains a .292 ERA. Hannah Michel leads the team with a .419 average and 80 hits. Ashley Miller is tops in the circle with a 13-0 record and 2.23 ERA.
The winner of the game will face either Texas Woman's or Lubbock Christian. Three of the four coaches at this regional have won a national championship while all four have coaches in a national championship game. Scott led ASU to the national title in 2004. Donna Fields of St. Mary's won a title in 2002 while Ginny Stidham of TWU coached Central Oklahoma to the title in 2013.Darren Hays of LCU has coached in the NAIA national championship game twice.
The Rambelles pitching staff has been excellent this season with a 3.00 ERA. The group has struck out a combined 216 batters and holds opponents to a .259 batting average. Brandy Marlett, a first team All-LSC selection, has the third most strikeouts in a single season in ASU history and is only five away from moving into second. The sophomore is 18-9 on the season with a 2.51 ERA. She has thrown 17 complete games and five shutouts with two saves. She holds teams to a .218 batting average and has held seven of her last 10 opponents scoreless. She held St. Mary's to just three hits and one run in the first meeting this season.
Kenedy Urbany is 12-5 on the season with a 3.13 ERA and one save. The sophomore has thrown 111.2 innings and struck out 70 batters. She has seven complete games and one complete game shutout. She is holding teams to a .288 batting average. At the plate, the Helotes native leads the team with a .382 average, 14 doubles, 11 home runs, 48 RBIs and 51 runs scored. Urbany has 30 career home runs and is currently No. 4 on the ASU career list one behind graduate assistant Morgan Spearman's 31. She has also reached base safely in 16 straight games.
Morgan Hill and Riley Adams have also seen action in the circle. Hill is 5-7 on the year with two saves and a 3.78 ERA. She has thrown five complete games while striking out 65. Adams has made five appearances this spring and is 1-0 on the year. Hill has also contributed at the plate with 14 hits, three doubles, one triple and two home runs.
Bailey Wallace, a first team All-LSC selection, has a .368 average and the third most hits in a season. She is No. 5 nationally in hit-by-pitches with 28 on the season. The 28 hit-by-pitches is the second most in a single season and the fifth most in career. She has currently reached base safely in 10 straight games.
Madison Greenwell is the team leader in hits with 72 on the season. The sophomore is hitting .355 with nine doubles and a team high five triples. She has scored 44 runs along with driving in 29. She has 22 multiple hit games. The Flower Mound native has also stole 16 bases.
Alexis Evans has a team-high 40 walks on the year and averages .318 at the plate. She has recorded 49 hits, six doubles and three home runs. She is third on the team with a .465 on base percentage as well. She has scored the fourth most runs with 36.
Ambra Hill is hitting .312 this season with 29 hits. She leads the team with 18 stolen bases. The senior has one double and two triples while scoring 32 runs. The Big Spring native drawn 23 walks and driven in 14 runs.
Ciara Sheppard has been hot recording eight hits in her last six games. The sophomore is hitting .310 for the season with 13 hits and one double. She has driven in nine RBIs and scored 10 runs.
Brooke Mangold has a .306 average with 22 hits and 15 runs scored. She hit a triple against Texas A&M-Commerce to score two runs. She has the most sacrifice hits and has stolen nine bases.
Taegan Kirk is tied for the team lead with 14 doubles and has 51 hits for the season. The freshman has a .302 average and has drawn 15 walks. The Lubbock native has added 39 RBIs and scored 27 runs. She has 13 multiple hit games and nine multiple RBI games.
Lanie Robinson has a .300 average with 39 hits. The senior has recorded seven doubles and one home run this season. She has driven in 25 runs while scoring 26. The Hitchcock native has drawn 14 walks and holds a .403 on base percentage.
Kelly Johnson, Riley Adams and Katlyn Herzog are also options at the plate. Johnson has a .289 average with four doubles and two triples. Adams has nine hits on the season while Herzog and nine hits with two doubles.
The games will be carried locally on 1260AM KKSA with Jeremy Bryant on the call.
