Box Score KINGSVILLE, Texas – In a matchup of two teams who met in last year's NCAA South Central Regional Championship game, 15^th-ranked St. Edward's got the best of Texas A&M-Kingsville once again, 7-1, Tuesday evening at Nolan Ryan Field. Hilltopper pitching was the key as the staff combined for 13 strikeouts, while allowing just four hits on the evening.
 
St. Edward's (17-9) wasted little time in putting a run on the board. WES KOENIG would drive in GABLE WHITACRE with a sacrifice fly to make it, 1-0.
 
The Hilltoppers added another run in the second inning when KEVIN MAYO led off with a single to centerfield. After adavancing to second on a sacrifice bunt, RYAN DOLEZAL came up with the big two-out single to plate Mayo, and make it 2-0.
 
St. Edward's kept the pressure on TAMU-Kingsville (13-10) with another run in the fifth inning. C.J. Manning led off the inning with a double down the left field line. Dolezal followed with a single to move Manning to third. MIKE DAVIS singled to left field to score Manning and push the lead to 3-0.
 
The Javelinas would get a run back in the bottom of the fifth inning when Brian Frazier led off with a home run to make it, 4-1.
 
The Hilltoppers answered the run in the top of the sixth as Dolezal drove in his second run of the game with a single to score Mayo.
 
St. Edward's put the game away in the ninth inning as they plated three runs on three hits to make it, 7-1. MILES WRIGHT picked up a pinch-hit RBI, while Whitacre added an RBI and Koenig picked up his second RBI of the evening.
 
"Our offense was really good at getting the job done when the opportunity presented itself," head coach Rob Penders said. "It was good to get back to playing quality baseball and give us some momentum heading into this weekend versus a good Newman team."
 
Hilltopper starting pitcher DALTON BROWN (4-0) was outstanding on the mound. The lefty allowed just one run on four hits, while walking two and striking out eight in 6.1 innings of work. CODY ELLERBEE came on in relief for 0.2 innings and GRAYSON PRATT for 2.0 innings of hitless baseball. Pratt picked up his first career save as he struck out four of the six batters he faced.
 
"Dalton pitched with a lot of heart and grit tonight," Penders said.
 
The Hilltoppers will be back in action this weekend when they host Heartland Conference rival Newman for a three-game series. The two teams will square off in a doubleheader Friday starting at 1:30 p.m. They will wrap up the series with a single game at 1 p.m. on Saturday. All three games will have live video and stats provided on the Hilltopper Athletic Website.