SAN ANTONIO, Texas – After dropping the winner's bracket final to host St. Mary's, 8-2, the St. Edward's Softball team dug deep and pounded Texas A&M-International, 9-4, in the semifinal to reach Saturday's championship at the Heartland Conference Tournament. The Hilltoppers take on the Rattlers in a rematch in the final.
 
vs. St. Mary's
In the first game of the day, St. Edward's (27-21) opened the game with back-to-back singles by ALEX MAYFIELD and BREAH WHITTEN. After a walk to CAITIE CARNEY loaded the bases, MORGAN DUFOUR drove home Mayfield with a sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead. That is all the Hilltoppers could muster in the inning.
 
St. Mary's (41-9) answered with three runs in the second inning. The second two runs would score on a strikeout/wild pitch that prolonged the inning.
 
Hilltopper starting pitcher SARAH DEBROW would settle down from there, as she shutout the Rattlers over the next two innings. In the fifth inning, St. Mary's would tack on two more runs, followed three more in the sixth inning for an 8-1 lead.
 
A. Mayfield got one run back in the seventh inning with an RBI-single for the final margin, 8-2. Mayfield was outstanding at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a triple, RBI and run scored.
 
vs. Texas A&M-International
Destined to make it back to the Heartland Tournament Championship for a fourth-straight year, St. Edward's looked to get its bats going.
 
TAMU-International (25-25) got on the board first with a single run in second inning.
 
The Hilltopper responded with a five spot in the third inning. KACI OLSON and A. Mayfield singled to start the inning. After a sacrifice bunt moved them ahead a base, Carney drew another walk on the day. This time with the bases loaded, Dufour came up with the big hit. The freshman doubled to center field to clear the bases and give St. Edward's a 3-1 advantage. FAITH ROBERTS, who homered twice in last year's conference tournament, followed with a two-run homer to push the lead to 5-1.
 
After the Dustdevils got a run back in the bottom of the third inning, the Hilltoppers responded once again. This time they put up four runs in the fourth inning. Whitten tallied an RBI-single, while Carney had a two-run double and Roberts produced another run with a double.
 
TAMU-International (25-25) was able to scratch out single runs in the fifth and sixth innings but was no real threat to the Hilltopper lead.
 
ALEX MAYFIELD had quite the day, going 5-for-8 to up her season average to .423. MORGAN DUFOUR continues to bolster her campaign for NFCA National Freshman of the Year as she went 4-for-5 with four RBI. She now has her average up to .403 with 15 home runs and 49 RBI. She was recently named a Top-10 finalist for the award on Thursday.
 
St. Edward's will be back in action Saturday as they take on St. Mary's for the Heartland Conference Championship. The hardware is on the line with first-pitch set for 1 p.m. at The Park at St. Mary's. The Hilltoppers will have to knock off the Rattlers twice to claim the title. Live video and stats will be available on the Rattler Athletic Website.