Box Score The Basics
-Score: UT-Permian Basin 1, St. Edward's 0 (G1); St. Edward's 8, UT-Permian Basin 5 (G2)
-Records: St. Edward's 26-12, 17-9 HC; UT-Permian Basin 12-23, 8-18 HC
-Location: Austin, Texas (Lucian-Hamilton Field)
 
Game 1                                                                                          
How It Happened
-UT-Permian Basin starting pitcher Brett Rogers kept St. Edward's handcuffed for the first six innings, allowing the home team just three hits.
-Hilltopper starting pitcher BRANNON EASTERLING had a few problems with the Falcon lineup, allowing seven hits through the first six innings, but the righthander either induced one of his team's double plays or registered one of his season-high 10 strikeouts to escape trouble.
-In the seventh inning, Trey Cochran led of with a home run to left field to give the Falcons the lead, 1-0.
-In the bottom of the seventh inning, St. Edward's would rally with one-out singles by DYLAN WATTS and RYAN DOLEZAL to put runners at first and third. Jacob Ricossa came on in relief and got TAYLOR JOHNSON to ground in to a game-ending double play.
 
Game 2
How It Happened
-UT-Permian Basin struck first in game two with two unearned runs in the second inning.
-St. Edward's fought back with two runs of its own in the third inning. RYAN DOLEZAL would score on a wild pitch and Johnson knotted the score, 2-2, on an infield single by CUTTER RUNTE.
-With one out in the fourth inning, MARSHALL BURFORD reached on a single and JOE PIROZZOLO followed with a walk. Watts stepped to the plate and ripped the 1-1 offering to the gap in left centerfield to score both runners and give the home team a 4-2 lead.
-The Falcons would not go away, as they plated two runs in the top of the fifth inning, but St. Edward's followed with three of its own in bottom of the frame. With Runte on after a single, RANSOM LALONDE reached first on a bunt single. CJ MANNING laid down a perfect bunt down the third base line and beat it out for a single. An errant throw by the third baseman on the play allowed Runte and LaLonde to score and Manning to advance to third. NATE BOBROWSKI drove in Manning with a sacrifice fly to make it 7-5.
-Both teams would score a single run in the eighth inning and AJ Ratiac came in and shut the door on the Falcons in the ninth for his sixth save of the season.
 
Beyond the Box Score
-After seeing his average dip all the way to .269, Watts has rebounded the last eight games and pounded out a .400 average (10-25) with five RBI and six runs scored. This brought his average back up over .300 at .301.
-Runte had three hits in game two today and has seven over the last three games.
-With his 10 strikeouts and just one walk today, Easterling now has a team-best 52 punch outs compared to just 12 walks in a team-high 77.0 innings pitched. That is good for a 4.33 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
 
2013 Heartland Conference Baseball Standings
Team                           Conference             Overall
#13 St. Mary's                   22-6                    26-11
#21 St. Edward's               17-9                    26-12
TAMU-International        18-11                   23-16
UA Fort Smith                   16-11                   19-16
Newman                           13-15                   16-18
UT-Permian Basin             8-18                    12-23
Panhandle State                1-25                      2-34
Oklahoma Christian           0-0                      19-17
McMurry                             0-0                      17-21
 
Up Next
The two teams will be back in action Saturday for the final game of the three-game series. First pitch will be at 1 p.m. Live video and stats will be available on the Hilltopper Athletic Website.