AUSTIN, Texas – The St. Edward's softball team opened its Heartland Conference schedule against the Eagles of Oklahoma Christian on Friday afternoon at Diane Daniels Field. Both SARAH DEBROW and Shea Coats pitched terrific games, but it was a FAITH ROBERTS walk-off homerun that sealed the 3-2 extra-inning victory for the Hilltoppers.
 
St. Edward's (13-8, 1-0 HC) struck early as ALEX MAYFIELD singled to start the bottom of the first. KACI OLSON bunted her over to second base and Mayfield made her way to third base by way of a passed ball. CAITIE CARNEY, typically known for her power, surprised the defense with a bunt with two strikes to score Mayfield and give the Hilltoppers a 1-0 lead.
 
Oklahoma Christian (7-3, 0-1 HC) quickly countered with a run of its own in the second inning, but it did not come without controversy. With a runner on second and one out, Haley Squier hit a grounder to Olson at shortstop whose throw to second went into right field. BREAH WHITTEN fired home for a play at the plate and it appeared as though the runner slid well short of home. After Roberts applied the tag with the runner lying short of home plate, the umpire ruled that Roberts interfered with the runner, and she was ruled safe to tie the game 1-1.
 
Both Coats and Debrow would only give up a handful of hits through the middle innings, but CYDNEY ERVIN came up with in an incredible play in the sixth inning. With two outs and a runner on second, Squier singled to centerfield. Ervin quickly gathered the ball from centerfield and fired a strike to home plate to get the runner at home.
 
St. Edward's used the momentum to pull ahead in the bottom of the sixth as MARISA BOGART came through in the clutch. With MORGAN DUFOUR on third base, Bogart was called on to pinch-hit. Bogart fought off several tough pitches, but ripped the eighth pitch of the at-bat into centerfield to give the Hilltoppers a 2-1 lead.
 
In the final inning, the Eagles scratched across a run with two outs as they were down to their last strike on two different occasions. A single, passed ball and double helped tie the game for Oklahoma Christian.
 
FAITH ROBERTS stepped to the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning to lead off the inning. After falling behind in the count 1-2, Roberts took a tomahawk swing at a pitch and skied it to deep left field. The left fielder twisted and turned for several seconds, but the ball landed just out of her reach and over the fence to give the Hilltoppers a 3-2 victory.
 
Head Coach Lindsey Gardner was ecstatic after the game, "It was a huge win for our team. I felt like we stayed focused on winning the game. It didn't matter if we made a mistake here and there, we stayed calm, chipped away and it was a great first victory for conference."
 
"Sarah did an amazing job of keeping their hitters off-balanced and she hit the corners extremely well today. Even when they'd get a hit or score a run she would immediately bounce back and get the next hitter out to get us out of the jam. Hats off to Shea Coats. She is a great pitcher and really forced us to work to string hits together." Gardner also reiterated that their work is not finished without a few improvements before tomorrow's doubleheader. "I think the biggest thing for us to have is a mindset that we need take the approach like we're going to hit the ball and not look for a walk. With that being said, I'd like to see us stay patient and take good swings with pitches that are in our wheelhouse."
 
St. Edward's will host Oklahoma Christian tomorrow afternoon at Diane Daniels Field. First pitch of the doubleheader is set for 12:00 p.m. You can follow the game via live stats or live video through the St. Edward's Athletics website.