SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The No. 23 Rambelles defeated the St. Mary's Rattlers in an exhilarating doubleheader as ASU defeated St. Mary's in game one, 2-0, and game two, 8-7. The Rambelles are now 29-11 overall with a 20-8 conference record.
 
Game One:
Courtney Barnhill continues to show her offensive might and power for the Rambelles after scoring the first run of game one for Angelo State after she smashed a home run over the center field fence to give Angelo State an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, hitting her sixth home run on the season.
 
Makayla Corbin went three up and three out in the bottom of the first inning as the first batter ground out to the second baseman, while the second out came from a fly ball caught by the center fielder for out number two. Corbin struck the third batter out swinging to bring ASU back to the batters box.
 
In the top of the third inning, Mykayla Stroud extended the Rambelles lead to 2-0 over the Rattlers as she smacked the ball over the left field fence for a solo home run, hitting her fourth home run of the season.
 
The Rattlers managed to hit a double into right center field and advance the runner into scoring position at third after hit a sacrifice bunt to the third baseman, but the Rambelle defense managed to squash any opportunity needed to score as one batter grounded out to the third baseman while the final out of the inning came from a pop up fly ball to the second baseman.
 
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Genesis Armendariz came in to pitch relief for Corbin with one out registered and a runner second. The Rambelles defense immediately stopped the Rattlers from advancing their runner any further as their next two batters flew out to left fielder to end the inning.
 
Haylie Mitchell hit a single in the top of the seventh into left field, stealing second shortly afterwards as Hatty Shope grounded out to the shortstop for the second out of the inning. Stroud made it to first and advanced Mitchell to third on a single hit to the shortstop. Ashlyn Lerma managed to reach first on a fielders choice as Mitchell was thrown out at home for the final out of the inning.
 
The Rambelles defense proved too much for the Rattlers offense in the bottom of the seventh as the first out came off of a fly ball out to the left fielder, while out number two came from a grounder hit straight to the shortstop. The final out of the game came from a pop fly to the shortstop as Angelo State defeated St. Mary's in game one, 2-0.
 
Key Players:

• Barnhill had three at-bats, registering three hits, one home run, one RBI, and one scored run for the Rambelles.
• Stroud had two at-bats, registering two hits, one RBI, one home run, and one scored run against the Rattlers.
• Corbin pitched for 5.1 innings, throwing two strikeouts against 21 batters faced.
• Armendariz, who pitched relief for Corbin, pitched for 1.2 innings, allowing no hits against six batters faced.

 
Game Two:
Ashlynn Box kicked things for the Rambelles in game two as she smacked a single up the middle of the field and advanced to third on Barnhills single out to right center field. Barnhill stole second shortly afterward as Box scored on a sacrifice fly from Madison Fernandez to take an early 1-0 lead over the Rattlers. Keilei Garcia smashed a double out to left center field to register an RBI as Barnhill crossed home plate to bring ASU to a 2-0 lead over St. Mary's.
 
With Armendariz in the circle to pitch for the Rambelles, she quickly took action as she struck the first batter out swinging. The Rattlers scored two runs after that as a home run tied the game up at 2-2. The Rambelle defense made quick work of the Rattlers afterwards however as two batters lined and flew out to the center fielder to bring ASU back to the batters box.
 
Box once again hit a single up the middle of the field, but was thrown out at second as Barnhill made it to first on a fielders choice. Fernandez stepped up to the plate for ASU and rocketed a ball over the left center field fence to score two runs for Angelo State and take a 4-2 lead over the Rattlers.
 
Armendariz went three up and three out in the bottom of the third as the first batter fouled out to the shortstop, while the second batter grounded out to the shortstop. The final out of the inning came from a ground ball hit to the third baseman to give ASU another chance at bat.
 
The Rattlers scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning as a single down the left field line and a double scored two runs to tie the game up at 4-4 with two outs registered. A quick throw from the shortstop to the second baseman ended the fourth inning and brought ASU another chance to get their bats swinging.
 
Box made it to first on a fielding error by the first baseman in the top of the seventh, advancing to second as Barnhill was walked. Fernandez walked to load the bases up as Garcia came up to bat. Garcia reached first on a fielding error by the second baseman, advancing Barnhill to third and Fernandez to second as Box scored a run for the Rambelles to retake the lead, 5-4.
 
Jade Strother reached first on a fielders choice as Barnhill was thrown out at home for the first out as Maleya Burns, pinch running for Fernandez, advanced to third and Garcia advanced to second. Ashton Dirner, pinch hitting for Mitchell, walked and scored a run for the Rambelles as Burns crossed home plate to bring ASU to a 6-4 lead over St. Mary's. Shope smashed a single to deep center field to advance Dirner to second, Strother to third, and send Garcia home for the third run of the inning, bringing the Blue and Gold to a three run lead over St. Mary's, 7-4.
 
With one out registered in the bottom of the seventh, the Rattlers managed to score two runs off of a fielding error to cut their deficit to 7-6. Corbin came into pitch relief for Armendariz in the bottom of the seventh, and the Rattlers managed to grab one last run to tie the game up at 7-7 off a grounder hit straight to the shortstop, sending game two into extra innings.
 
In the bottom of the eighth, Corbin showed her pitching skills as she struck one batter swinging, while the final two outs of the inning came from pop up fly balls to the second and third basemen.
 
Garcia began the top of the ninth inning for ASU as she was hit by a pitch and walked, as Avery Ziegler came and pinch ran for Garcia. With two outs registered and Ziegler on second, Shope hit a single down the right field line to score Ziegler to bring ASU to an 8-7 lead over the Rattlers.
 
The Rambelles defense made short work of the Rattlers offense in the bottom of the ninth as one batter lined out to the pitcher, while another batter popped up to the second baseman. The final out of the game came from a ground ball to the second baseman as Angelo State defeated the Rattlers, 8-7 in game two.
 
Key Players:

• Box had five at-bats, registering three hits and scoring two runs for the Rambelles.
• Barnhill had four at-bats, scoring two runs and registering three hits against the Rattlers.
• Fernandez had three at-bats, scoring one run and registering one hit and three RBI for Angelo State.
• Garcia had four at-bats, scoring a run and registering two hits and one RBI against St. Mary's.
• Armendariz pitched for 6.1 innings, throwing two strikeouts against 32 batters.
• Corbin pitched for 2.2 innings, throwing one strikeout against seven batters.

 
Up Next:
The Rambelles close out the conference season at home as Angelo State hosts Lubbock Christian on Saturday, May 1 in a doubleheader. Game one will be played at 1 p.m., while game two will be played at 3:30 p.m.