Box Score GEORGETOWN, TEXAS – In this most recent Battle of the Saints, the St. Edward's Baseball team got the best of St. Mary's once again. The Hilltoppers erased an early deficit to defeat the Rattlers, 3-2 Saturday afternoon, and advance to the Heartland Conference Championship game on Sunday.
 
It was St. Mary's (33-19) who struck first in the second inning. Scott Jones led off the inning for the Rattlers with a solo home to left field. It was Jones' first homer of the season.
 
St. Edward's battled back in the bottom of the third inning. CUTTER RUNTE began the rally with a one-out single through the left side. KEVIN MAYO followed with a single to right field. That set the stage for WES KOENIG. The Heartland Conference Player of the Year delivered with a triple down the right field line to plate both Runte and Mayo to take the lead, 2-1.
 
Hilltopper starting pitcher COLLIN SHERROD settled in from there. He would put up zeros through the seventh inning. St. Edward's tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh. C.J. Manning led off the inning with a double off of the wall in left field. A.J. Hermanson came on to pinch run and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt. Runte would single home Hermanson to make it 3-1, Hilltoppers. St. Edward's almost had a fourth run as Runte tried to steal home but RANSOM LALONDE was called out for an apparent batter's interference.
 
St. Mary's would get a one-out solo home run in the ninth from pinch hitter Joe Hermson to make it 3-2, but Sherrod closed out the game with two-straight strikeouts.
 
Sherrod (10-1) rebounded from his first loss last weekend to McMurry by allowing two runs on five hits, while walking one and striking out a career-high 12 batters in his complete-game effort.
 
"Collin threw a masterpiece and beat an opposing pitcher that is one of the best this conference has ever seen," head coach Rob Penders said. "He stepped up today and got the job done. We got some timely hitting, but we had really good at-bats against (Rene) Solis all day. That approach was the difference in the game. We have one more win to clinch a bid to regionals. Nothing is accomplished yet, but we like our position."
 
Both Koenig and Runte led the way with two hits each.
 
St. Edward's will be back in action Sunday when they take on St. Mary's in the championship game. First-pitch is set for Noon at Georgetown High School. St. Mary's defeated Newman in Saturday night's semifinal contest, 6-0. This will be the fifth meeting between the two schools this season with the Hilltoppers taking three of the first four battles. Live stats and FREE live video will be available on the Hilltopper Athletic Website. Check the Tournament Central Page for more information.