Corina Noel continued her dominance at the plate with a first-inning blast over the left field fence to put the Saints ahead 1-0 against Huston-Tillotson University on April 27. Noel leads the conference in hitting with a total of 65 on 150 at bats for an average of .433. She's also the conference leader in RBIs with 42, averaging 1.02 per game.
The doubleheader ended with the Saints winning 6-0 and 14-1 to improve their record to 28-14 overall and 20-6 in the Red River Athletic Conference. Huston-Tillotson dropped to 5-29 overall and 5-23 in the conference.
After the first-inning home run by Noel, Rams pitcher Sara Barrera quickly loaded the bases with hits by Dawn Villegas and Brooke Hernandez, and a walk by Alyssa Posadas. Bianca Salinas reached the base on a walk, which drove in Villegas. Meagan Potts ended the inning with a fly out to the shortstop.
The game stayed at 2-0 through the fourth inning when Hernandez singled to center to drive in Noel and Kaitlyn Bourg. The Saints increased their lead to 4-0.
The fifth inning saw another home run from Noel, driving in Maria Flores, and now putting the lead to 6-0. The game ended in the seventh inning with a strikeout by HTU's Candis Straube and two ground outs by Monique Arce and Barrera.
Saints sophomore Melanie Gonzalez (4-1-3) pitched a three-hit shutout in five-innings, striking out one and walking one. Kailyn Miller (6-5) pitched a hitless two inning-save with two strikouts to give the Saints the 6-0 win.
The Rams scored their only run of the doubleheader in the second inning of the second game. Barrera reached base on a bobble by Saints leftfielder Potts that drove in Straube.
The Saints scored a run in the bottom of the second inning while Salinas was at bat. Tiffany Stritz stole home to tie up the score at one.
The bottom of the third inning garnered 13 runs for the Saints. Villegas reached third base on an error by centerfielder Lindsey Cantrell, which drove in Flores, Noel and Bourg. An error by rightfielder Jamenequa Ben drove in Villegas. A hit to right field by Posadas drove in Hernandez and Stritz, and a double by Salinas drove in Posadas for the seventh Saints' run of the inning. A short grounder to right got passed Ben and drove in Salinas, and a sacrifice
|

|
|
Ariel Mochacek prepares to score during the second game. |
fly by Noel drove in Potts. Bourg reached second on another error by Cantrell that drove in Flores. A double by Villegas drove in Bourg and a single by Stritz scored Villegas. Ariel Mochacek, who was pitch-hitting for Hernandez, hit one out to centerfield, and a double by Posadas drove Mochacek in for the Saints 13th and final run of the inning.
No one else scored through the next two innings, and the umpire called the game at the conclusion of the top of the fifth inning.
Villegas (9-4-4) earned the win on three innings pitched, giving up one hit and striking out four.
The Saints will get set for the Red River Athletic Conference Championship Tournament that begins on April 30 in Farmers Branch, Texas. The second-seeded Saints will have a bye in the first round of the tournament. They are scheduled to play at noon on April 30 against the winner of the game between No. 3 Northwood University and No. 6 Huston-Tillotson University. The tournament will culminate with the championship game on Saturday afternoon.