PORTLAND, Texas – On the final day of the Portland Tournament down in Portland, Texas, Henderson State played the St. Mary's Rattlers for the second time in less than 24 hours, with the second time around showing STMU eeking out a narrow victory, 3-1. The Reddies fell to tournament host Texas A&M-Kingsville in the second game, 6-0.
 
Henderson matched the Rattlers in game number one with eight hits as Erika Bittinger claimed two hits in the effort. Monica Monreal and Brooke Johnson were the only players to see a hit in each game today as both Reddies spent time in the circle, as well.
 
Henderson St. (0-9) will play one more tournament before beginning conference play with the Reddies co-host the HSU/OBU Tournament Feb. 19-20, beginning with Midwestern State Saturday, Feb. 19 at 11 a.m.
 
Game 1: St. Mary's 3, Henderson State 1
Brooke Johnson started in the circle for the designated home team as the freshman pitcher only gave up two hits through the first three innings of action. The same was to be said about Henderson, however, as it only claimed two hits through three at-bats. The Reddies did threaten in the bottom of the third, but left two base-runners stranded as play stood at 0-0.
 
The Rattlers got into a bit of a groove in the top of the fourth, rattling off three hits for two runs to take a 2-0 lead. In the bottom of the frame, Johnson was plugged into the batting lineup as she started things off with a single through the left side.
 
Moments later, after HSU loaded the bases with two more singles, Ashlyn Taylor brought home Jones, who pinch-ran for Johnson, to make the score 2-1. With the bases still loaded and zero outs against the Reddies, just when HSU looked to try and tie it up at 2-2, Bittinger was tagged out at home, followed by two more outs to move play to the top of the fifth.
 
Monreal came in to pitch for Johnson as she began her time in the circle giving up only one hit to begin the at-bat, followed by three straight outs. The bottom of the fifth held a similar fate for Henderson, as one hit was from Monreal was overshadowed by three outs to keep the scoreboard reading 2-1.
 
With the sixth inning reflecting identical situations for both squads, St. Mary's hit a two-out double to score a third run before a third out gave HSU had one final opportunity. Three HSU batters later, the Rattlers escaped with the 3-1 victory.
 
Game 2: Texas A&M-Kingsville 6, Henderson State 0
Similar to how yesterday's second game went, the close loss appeared to stay with the Reddies. The game started out tight as neither team saw a base runner in any capacity through the first two and a half innings as both pitchers worked three up, three down in back-to-back opponent at-bats.
 
With Henderson not getting anything going in the top of the third, Kingsville opened things up in the next half inning, scoring a lone run to take a 1-0 lead. That led way to what would be a three-run bottom of the fourth as TAMUK went into the fifth inning with a 4-0 advantage. The Reddies only claimed two more hits the rest of the way as the Javelinas closed out the Portland Tournament with the 6-0 victory.