Box Score The Basics
-Score: St. Edward's 2, St. Mary's 5: St. Edward's 0, St. Mary's 2
-Records: St. Edward's 27-19 (11-3 HC): St. Mary's 40-12 (14-0 HC)
-Location: San Antonio, Texas (SAISD Softball Field)
 
How it happened (Game 1)
-The Hilltoppers surrendered four runs to the Rattlers in the first two innings of action and quickly found themselves in a hole.
-St. Edward's got on the board during the top of the fourth inning. ALLY VALDEZ scored the run. She got on base after she doubled to left field.
-The Rattlers responded with a run of their own to extend the lead, 5-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning.
-LAUREN BRODE scored the second run of the game for the Hilltoppers in the top of the sixth. She reached on a fielder's choice and advanced to second after Valdez singled up the middle. Brode was brought home after FAITH ROBERTS doubled to center field.
-The Hilltoppers had a chance to close the gap in the bottom of the seventh inning. The bases were loaded with ALLY VALDEZ at the plate for a chance to potentially take the lead. Valdez struck out and St. Edward's dropped game one of the series, 5-2.
 
How it happened (Game 2)
-St. Mary's got on the board first in the bottom of the second inning. They led 1-0.
-The Hilltoppers had trouble finding the bats, as they were only able to muster one hit through the first four innings.
-That changed as the Hilltoppers recorded two hits in the top of the fifth inning to generate some offense. Unfortunately it didn't generate any runs for St. Edward's and they still found themselves down 1-0.
-The Rattlers added a second run to the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth inning. The run was unearned as the runner scored on a throwing error.
-St. Edward's had their final chance to tie and extend the game in the top of the seventh, but they went three up, and three down and St. Mary's would go on to win game two, 2-0.
 
Beyond the Box Score
-Despite the two losses, the Hilltoppers will finish the regular season second in the Heartland Conference and will enter the Heartland Conference Tournament as the #2 seed.
-ALLY VALDEZ connected on four hits in the two games on Saturday. She is currently in second place in the Heartland Conference with a .427 batting average.
-On the defensive side of the field, LAUREN BRODE had 15 putouts on Saturday. She currently leads the Heartland Conference with 242 putouts on the season.
 
 
2013 Conference Standings
 
Team                                      Conference               Overall
 
St. Mary's                               14-0                            40-12
St. Edward's                         11-3                            27-19
TAMU-International              7-8                              21-34
Texas-Permian Basin          6-8                              13-36
Newman                                 3-11                            6-37
Panhandle State                   2-12                            7-43
Oklahoma Christian             0-0                              20-21
 
Up Next
The Hilltoppers will be back in action tomorrow for their final regular season game against the Rattlers. First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m. Live stats will be available through the Rattler Athletic Website.