Tournament Central

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – St. Edward's Softball pitchers KATELYN KLUG and SARAH DEBROW combined for a four-hit shutout to give the Hilltoppers a 1-0 victory over Texas A&M-International, Thursday afternoon in the first round of the Heartland Conference Tournament.
 
Though the first four innings it was a pitcher's duel between KATELYN KLUG of St. Edward's and Mariena Gallardo of TAMU-International. Each pitcher only allowed one hit through the first four frames.
 
In the fifth inning, the Hilltoppers finally got the offense rolling. FAITH ROBERTS led off the inning with a single to right field. KP PERCH moved pinch-runner LAURA ALVARADO to second base with a sacrifice bunt. Pinch-hitter Savannah Bijarro singled up the middle to put runners at the corners. An infield single by CYDNEY ERVIN loaded the bases and brought ALEX MAYFIELD to the plate. Mayfield grounded a ball back to Gallardo in the circle, but Alvarado hustled down the line at third and caused an errant throw for the first run of the game.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, Klug ran into trouble after dealing for most of the game. She would give way to Debrow with the bases loaded. The senior came in and struck out two batters to end the threat. When it was all said and done, Debrow pitched the final 2.2 innings, allowing just one hit and striking out four Dustdevil batters to pick up the save. Klug picks up her 10^th win of the season.
 
St. Edward's will be back in action Friday where they will take on the winner of the St. Mary's and Newman matchup that follows its game. First-pitch for the winner's bracket final is set for 12 p.m. Friday afternoon at The Park at St. Mary's. Live video and stats will be available on the Rattler Athletic Website.