Angel Castro hit an RBI single through the left side while an errant play by a St. Mary's outfielder allowed another run to score which proved to be the difference in a 3-1 Falcon victory over the Rattlers.
The victory was the first Heartland Conference win for The University of Texas of the Permian Basin softball team, which moved to 12-17 overall and 1-3 in league play.
Neither team was able to get anything going offensively until
Kristine Samaniego opened the bottom of the third by reaching first after getting hit by a pitch. She would later move to second on a sacrifice bunt by
Alisha Carrasco before
Tomie Ellard put runners on the corners when she reached on an error by Rattler pitcher Emily Brittain. Castro finally broke the scoreless tie with a single between third base and shortstop to plate Samaniego. St. Mary's left fielder Lauren Miller couldn't handle Castro's hit as it bounced off her glove and towards the left field fence which was enough for Ellard to score from second.
St. Mary's cut the score in half in the fifth inning when Shelly Lee singled in Miller, who led off the inning with a single to left.
The Falcons' good fortune continued in the bottom of the fifth when Carrasco, who led off the inning with a double off the foot of Brittain, scored from third thanks to an illegal pitch by Crystal Keller, who came in relief for Brittain. Ironically, the illegal pitch by Keller was her first of the game.
UTPB pitcher
Desiree Valero was impressive as she gave up just one run off three hits while striking out one.
The two teams will play a double header tomorrow starting tomorrow at noon.
