SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The Angelo State Rambelles split their season openers against conference opponents, defeating the St. Mary's Rattlers 8-6, while losing to the Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelinas, 4-2.
 
Game One against St. Mary's:
With the runner on first and second at the top of the first inning, Ashlynn Box cranked a ball down the right field line, sending Madison Fernandez to third while Avery Ziegler scored the first run of the 2021 season and bringing ASU to a 1-0 lead over the Rattlers.
 
Freshman Haylie Mitchell cranked another ball, this time down the left field line, grabbing a single for herself and sending Box to second and Fernandez home to extend ASUs' lead to 2-0. St. Mary's responded by knocking a homer out of the park, scoring two runs to take a 3-2 lead over ASU in the bottom of the first.
 
Senior Jade Strother hit a single deep into center field, sending Mitchell to second while Box scored from third and Fernandez showed her speed, scoring from second to take the lead back over the Rattlers, 4-3, in the top of the third inning. Mitchell scored from third on a throwing error, growing the Rambelles lead to 5-3 over St. Mary's and advancing Strother to second. Paxton Scheurer let her defense show off their skills, with two Rattlers grounded out to the shortstop and one Rattler popped up to the left fielder.
 
St. Mary's cranked another homer over the center field fence to cut their deficit to one run, 5-4, then hit a single to the pitcher and advancing a runner to third and scoring to tie the game at 5-5. Genesis Armendariz struck the Rattler batter looking on a full count for the third out to give the Belles one more opportunity get their bats going.
 
Ziegler advanced to first on a fielders choice, advancing Ashlyn Lerma to second on the throwing error, and scoring both Maleya Burns and Strother to bring the Rambelles lead to 7-5 over the Rattlers. St. Mary's managed to score one more run on a single to left center field, but Strother stole second in the top of the seventh and advanced to third on the throw, giving Box the chance to steal home and score one more run for the Rambelles as ASU took a 8-6 lead over STMU. Armendariz showed off her pitching skills and capabilities as she struck out the last two batters, one swinging and the other looking, to end the game for Angelo State, 8-6.
 
Key Players:

• Box had four at-bats, scoring two runs, two hits, and being walked twice.
• Strother had three at-bats, scoring one run, two hits, two RBI, with one stolen base.
• Vasquez threw for 2.1 innings, throwing four strikeouts and 66 pitches, facing 14 batters.
• Armendariz threw for 1.1 innings, throwing three strikeouts and 30 pitches, facing four batters.

 
Game Two against Texas A&M-Kingsville:
With a runner on base in the top of the first inning and two outs, Kingsville smacked a ball over center field, scoring two runs and gaining a 2-0 lead over Angelo State. Kingsville hit a fly ball out to the right fielder, resulting in the third out.
 
Kingsville scored two more runs in the third inning off of a single into center field and a double into right center to extend their lead to 4-0 over the Rambelles. Armedariz and the Rambelle defense kept the Javelinas from scoring another run for the rest of the game.
 
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Courtney Barnhill smacked a ball deep into right center field for a double, advancing to second. Fernandez hit a ground ball to the first baseman, advancing Barnhill to third and into scoring position. With two outs, Burns hit her first double of the year, scoring Barnhill and cutting the Javelinas lead to three over Angelo State, 4-1. Strother smacked a single down the left field line to advance to first. Burns showed her speed off of Strothers single, rounding third and scoring her first run of the season, cutting ASUs' deficit to just two runs, 4-2.
 
ASU held the Javelinas from scoring in the top of the seventh, but the Javelinas pitching and defense proved too much for Angelo State as Texas A&M-Kingsville defeated the Rambelles, 4-2.
 
Key Players:

• Barnhill had four at-bats, scoring a run, a stolen base, and registering two hits.
• Burns had two at-bats, scoring a run, one hit, and RBI.
• Strother had three at-bats, registering two hits and one RBI.
• Armendariz pitched for five innings, throwing three strikeouts and 93 pitches, facing 24 batters.

 
Up Next:
The Rambelles travel to Arkansas to participate in the McGhee-Hawkins Invitational tournament hosted by Henderson State University. Angelo State will play two games on Friday, February 12 against Mississippi College and No. 1 Southern Arkansas University, two games on Saturday, February 13 against Christian Brothers University and Ouachita Baptist, and one game against Henderson State on Sunday, February 13.