Box Score AUSTIN, Texas – SARAH DEBROW picked-up her 17^th win of the season and her first save to guide the Hilltoppers to a doubleheader sweep of the Heartland Conference regular season champion, St. Mary's. St. Edward's dominated the opening game over #11 St. Mary's, 4-1, and hung on in the second game, 7-5.
 
In game one, St. Edward's (31-22, 14-10 HC) scored first during the first inning. BREAH WHITTEN opened the game with a single through the right side. Whitten advanced to second base during the next at bat. ALEX MAYFIELD singled to left center and gained an RBI as Whitten crossed home. St. Edward's led 1-0 after one inning of play.
 
St. Mary's (43-12, 18-5 HC) earned five hits through the fourth and fifth innings, but the Hilltopper defense only allowed one run to score despite the numerous hits. St. Edward's retook the lead in the fifth inning as LAURA ALVARADO scored the second run of the game for the Hilltoppers; they led, 2-1.
 
KACI OLSON opened the bottom of the sixth inning with a walk. She advanced to second via a sacrifice bunt by A. Mayfield. KENDALL LUCAS tripled to right center allowing Olson to score and push the led to 3-1. Two pitches later, Lucas crossed home on an EMILY MAYFIELD single.
 
SARAH DEBROW wrapped up the victory for St. Edward's in the seventh inning with a strike out and two easy groundouts. For the game, she threw 108 pitches and struck out seven batters.
 
Game two started similarly to game one with the Hilltoppers taking the early 1-0 lead. EMILY MAYFIELD reached base when she was hit by a pitch. Mayfield advanced to second on a fielder's choice. CYDNEY ERVIN singled to left center, and that drove Mayfield home for the score.
 
St. Edward's took control of the game in the third inning with three runs. KACI OLSON and ALEX MAYFIELD started the inning with two hits. KENDALL LUCAS added the third hit that was a homerun over the left field wall to extend the lead, 4-0.
 
St. Mary's got right back into the game with a three-run inning of their own in the fourth. At that point, the Hilltoppers led 4-3. Another three run inning by St. Edward's gave them the comfortable four run lead, 7-3.
 
MARISA BOGART singled to right center to start the rally. LAURA ALVARADO was assigned to pinch run for Bogart and she immediately stole second. CYDNEY ERVIN singled to the short stop; Alvarado advanced to third. It was Ervin's turn to attempt a steal and it was successful. BREAH WHITTEN recorded the third hit with a single to the pitcher to load the bases.
 
FAITH ROBERTS added the fourth hit of the inning and that allowed Alvarado to score. KENDALL LUCAS drew a walk later in the inning with the bases still loaded, and Whitten scored the second run of the inning. The final run of the inning was scored when ALEX MAYFIELD crossed home after EMILY MAYFIELD grounded out.
 
The Rattlers wouldn't go away as they scored two runs on four hits in the seventh inning, to trim the lead to 7-5. SARAH DEBROW was called in to record the final out. Debrow struck out the final batter looking and tallied her first save of the season and preserved the 7-5 victory for the Hilltoppers.

"I am so proud of our team's accomplishments this weekend," head coach Lindsay Gardner said. "Finihsing the regular season defeating St. Mary's, the #3 ranked team in our region, three times is a huge confidence builder to take into the Heartland Conference Tournament next weekend. This weekend was an absolute blast.
 
St. Edward's will be back in action Thursday for the first day of action of the Heartland Conference Tournament. The tournament will be hosted by regular season champion, St. Mary's in San Antonio, Texas Live stats and video will be available through the Rattler athletic website.