SAN ANGELO, Texas – The Angelo State Rambelle softball team swept the competition in the George McCorkle Challenge, defeating both the No. 4 UT Tyler Patriots and the Texas A&M International Dustdevils. The Rambelles move to a 4-2 overall record.
 
Game One against UT Tyler:
The Rambelles and the Patriots defenses both came to play today as neither team managed to score a run until the fourth inning. With two outs in the bottom of the fourth, Courtney Barnhill reached first base on an error from the third baseman, stealing second shortly afterwards. With Barnhill on second, Ashlynn Box stepped into the box and smacked the ball deep into deep right center field, scoring Barnhill and taking a one run lead over the Patriots, 1-0.
 
With Genesis Armendariz in the circle to pitch for Angelo State, her skills as a pitcher were shown as she struck one batter out looking. The Rambelle defense showed their skills as well as two batters grounded out to the shortstop and to the second baseman to advance to the bottom of the fifth inning.
 
The Patriots scored two runs in the top of the sixth inning to lead the Rambelles 2-1, but Armendariz steeled her nerves and let her defense take care of the batters, with one hitting a fly ball out to the center fielder. Armendariz threw another batter out as she attempted to make it to first base, and the third batter was thrown out at third on a fielder's choice to head to the bottom of the sixth inning.
 
In the bottom of the seventh inning, with Maleya Burns on third and two outs, Mykayla Stroud was hit by a pitch, advancing to first, where shortly afterwards stole second. Hatty Shope was walked to load the bases with Jade Strother up to bat for Angelo State, where she cranked a ball into deep center field, scoring Burns and Stroud to give the Rambelles a 3-2 lead over the Patriots and take a win over the the No. 4 ranked UT Tyler Patriots.
 
Key Players:

• Strother had four at-bats, registering one hit and two RBI.
• Barnhill had three at-bats, scoring one run.
• Burns had one at-bat, scoring one run.
• Stroud had two at bats, scoring one run, registering one hit and two stolen bases.
• Armendariz pitched for seven innings for a complete game, facing 28 batters and registering three strikeouts.

 
Game Two against the Texas A&M International Dustdevils:
The Dustdevils scored a run early in the top of the first inning, but the Rambelle defense kept their nerves about them, getting a double play to get two outs against TAMIU. Mikayla Corbin finished the inning for the Blue and Gold, striking the last batter out to give Angelo State a chance to get their bats going.
 
Ashlyn Lerma showed her speed and quickness as she beat the pitch to first on an error from the shortstop, where she stole second shortly and advanced to third on a wild pitch, putting her in scoring position for Angelo State. Strother advanced to first after being hit by a pitch, where she was caught trying to steal second base, giving Lerma her chance to steal home and score a run for ASU, tying the game at 1-1.
 
Box also managed to beat the throw to first on an error from the third baseman, where she advanced to second on a wild pitch, advancing to third on a throwing error from the catcher. Madison Fernandez cracked a ball to left center field for a single, scoring Box from third to give the Rambelles a 2-1 lead over the Dustdevils.
 
Corbin and the Rambelle defense kept the Dustdevils from scoring another run for the rest of the game, and in the bottom of the fifth inning, Strother smacked the ball over the fence for her first home run of the season, scoring another run for the Rambelles to give Angelo State a 3-1 lead over the Dustdevils. In the top of the seventh, one batter fouled out to the catcher for the first of three outs. The second out came from a pop up fly ball to the second baseman, and the third out came from a ground out to the shortstop.
 
Key Players:

• Strother had two at-bats, scoring one run and registering one hit, one RBI, and one home run.
• Ashlyn Lerma had two at-bats, scoring one run.
• Shope had three at-bats, registering two hits and grabbing two stolen bases for the Rambelles.
• Box had three at-bats, scoring one run.
• Corbin pitched for seven innings for a complete game, facing 29 batters and throwing four strikeouts.

 
Up Next:
The Rambelles wrap up the George & Ola McCorkle Challenge as Angelo State faces UT Tyler in the last game of the tournament. Game time will begin at 1:15 p.m.