AUSTIN, Texas – The St. Edward's Baseball team pushed its winning streak to nine-straight games Friday afternoon as they defeated UT-Permian Basin in game one by a score of 8-0, but fell in the second game of a doubleheader, 5-1.
Game 1: St. Edward's (16-7, 4-1 HC) was primarily led by the bottom of the batting order, as they combined to go 3-for-5 with five runs batted in on the day. They helped bring the Hilltoppers their first three runs of the game in the second inning.
CUTTER RUNTE poked a single through the right side of the infield allowing Joe Olson to come around and score.
JONATHAN DAVIS advanced to third on the play and Runte made it to second as the throw came to the plate. Wes Harris ripped a pitch to the left center gap that ended in a long double and brought both Davis and Runte in to score.
St. Edward's pushed the lead to 6-0 in the fourth inning as
KEVIN MAYO led off with a single. He was brought home just two pitches later as Davis lined an RBI double down the left field line. Runte would draw a walk and advance both runners via a wild pitch before Harris hit a sacrifice fly to right field, bringing in Davis.
NATE TURNER chopped a single through the right side of the field to bring Harris in from second base to end the scoring for the inning.
The Hilltoppers would add two more runs in the sixth inning as
J.D. ARROWOOD bounced a single up the middle to start the inning. Mayo singled through the left side and Runte drew another walk to load the bases with two outs for
NATE TURNER. Turner once again shot a single through the right side to bring in Arrowood and Mayo on the play, extending the Hilltoppers lead to 8-0.
Hilltopper starter
COLLIN SHERROD did not have his typical shutdown stuff early in the game as he spread out seven hits through his first four innings of work. However, he worked through the pressure and allowed just a single hit in the final three innings. This was Sherrod's third victory in his last fourth starts, and he also managed to strikeout four batters on the afternoon.
Game 2:Both teams struggled defensively in the second game as the Falcons (13-6, 4-1 HC) made the most of five Hilltopper errors to win 5-1. In the top of the second inning, UT-Permian Basin placed runners on second and third base with two outs. A fly ball was lifted to Turner in deep left field, but the ball popped out of his glove and both runners came around to score.
St. Edward's tried to battle back in the second inning as Arrowood doubled to left center to lead off the inning. Mayo bunted Arrowood over to third via a sacrifice before Harris singled him in to bring the score within 2-1.
The Falcons had a lead-off triple in the third inning and they were brought in via a one-out double. UTPB would get an RBI-single in the fourth inning to extend its lead to 4-1.
The Hilltoppers had back-to-back errors in the fifth inning, and the Falcons were poised to break the game open as they had the bases loaded and no outs. However,
BRYCE DAVIS induced a double play and struck out the final batter of the inning to keep the score to 5-1. Davis pitched well on the day as he fired 5.1 innings of work, allowing just one hit and one run while striking out six Falcon hitters.
St. Edward's would try to rally in the ninth as Mayo and Davis hit back-to-back one out singles, but UTPB enduced a pop up and fielder's choice to end the game.
St. Edward's and UTPB will face each other in the rubber match tomorrow afternoon, as both teams vie for Heartland Conference supremacy. First pitch from Lucian-Hamilton Field is set for 1:00 pm. Live video and stats will be available on the Hilltopper Athletic Website.
