Moreno hits home run, Lady Rattlers earn 6-3 victory over Schertz Clemens

San Marcos head coach Cathy Stoughton called Tuesday’s win a breath of fresh air. 

The Lady Rattlers have been tested this season but Tuesday night they prevailed over Schertz Clemens, 6-3. 

“We’ve just had so many things go against us and (Tuesday) we made some great plays,” Stoughton said. “We put a few too many batters on — walks and hit batsmen — but our pitchers came back and made pitches when we needed to … Just making the routine plays. We struggled with the routine plays lately. So, it was nice. Our offense came through and we got the bunt down. We executed. We just had a lot of things go our way.”

San Marcos struck first when an RBI double from Julissa Venegas scored junior Heavenny Garcia to give the Lady Rattlers a 1-0 advantage in the first inning. 

Clemens had an opportunity to tie the game in the second inning but a strong throw from sophomore Gianna Moreno allowed senior catcher Sydney Salazar to make a play at the plate that eliminated the Lady Buffaloes' threat. 

Moreno raced around the bases for an inside-the-park home run to extend San Marcos’ lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the second. The Lady Rattlers added another run in the inning with a sac-fly from Salazar. 

San Marcos scored two more runs in the third inning to grab a 5-0 lead. Clemens scored a run in the fourth inning and  two runs in the fifth inning to get within 5-3. 

But the Lady Rattlers added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth and held on for the 6-3 win. 

Stoughton said scoring five runs early in the game helped San Marcos earn Tuesday’s victory.

“We needed a confidence builder,” Stoughton said. “We’ve been playing from behind the last six or seven games … For us to come out and take the lead early was a huge difference for us.” 

The Lady Rattlers continue district play on the road Friday against New Braunfels at 7 p.m. San Marcos hopes its win over Clemens will help build momentum going into Friday’s matchup against the Unicorns. 

“We need to have confidence. This was a good confidence booster for us,” Stoughton said. “These girls have worked hard all season. They’ve played hard. We’ve come up just short so many times and I know when we get another opportunity at somebody, we’re hungry for it. I think we’re anxious to play New Braunfels again and see what happens.”