CANYON, Texas (May 11, 2017) - Texas Woman's University jumped ahead 3-0 on 20^th-ranked St. Mary's in the first inning during game one of the South Central Regional hosted by West Texas A&M at Schaeffer Park Thursday, and staged a seventh inning comeback, but the Pioneers committed costly errors and left 11 runners on base before falling 7-5 to the Rattlers to place TWU in an elimination game Friday.
 
Nicole Nordie led off the game with a single to right center on a full count before stealing second and advancing to third on the throw. Katy Stephens was hit by a pitch to place runners on the corners for the Pioneers. Hazel Puempel sent a single to left field to advance Stephens, but Nordie was caught sliding home. Tylia Sylestine doubled to left center and made her way to third on the throw and brought in Puempel and Stephens for a 2-0 TWU lead. Melanie Stephens stepped in for Alexis Elizondo and immediately made an impact with a triple deep down the right side to score Sylestine for a 3-0 advantage.
 
The Pioneers (33-20, 18-11 LSC) were looking to close the bottom of the third with two outs and two strikes registered, but the Rattlers put up a pair of runs with a home run over the batting cages in left field to pull within 3-2. St. Mary's (43-14, 16-5 Heartland) then knotted the game at 3-all on a home run by the leadoff batter in the bottom of the fourth.
 
The Rattlers scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth as errors plagued the Pioneers allowing St. Mary's to turn a pair of miscues into three unearned runs. With runners on second and third, a Pioneer throwing blunder scored the two Rattlers to give St. Mary's their first lead of the contest at 5-3. Another error allowed a runner to reach first and then steal second. A single up the middle scored two more runs to increase the lead to 7-3.
 
The Pioneers attempted a comeback in the top of the seventh beginning with a walk to Sylestine, and a Rattler throwing error allowed Sylestine two more bases. Melanie Stephens was hit by a pitch and pushed pinch runner Hailey Dixon to second. Abby Walker reached on a fielder's choice to second base, forcing Melanie Stephens out at second, but the toss to first was overthrown to give Sylestine and Dixon time to make it home to close the gap to 7-5. Another fielder's choice put Morgan Harrison on first but caught pinch runner Nicole Parnell out at second for out number two. Logan Polasek drew a walk to place runners on first and second, but a final strikeout concluded the contest.
 
Tori Bice (6-9) took the loss on one earned run with three walks and a strikeout.
 
The Pioneers will face the winner of West Texas A&M and Tarleton State Friday at 4 p.m. at Schaeffer Park.