SAN ANTONIO, Texas - The 10^th-ranked St. Edward's Hilltoppers drew the Falcons of UT-Permian Basin to open the 2015 Heartland Conference Tournament on Thursday afternoon. St. Edward's was given a masterful effort from CAMERON STANTON on the mound in rout to a 5-2 victory and a decisive advantage going into the next round of the double-elimination tournament.
 
St. Edward's (38-11) struck first in the second inning as KEVIN MAYO reached base and made his way into scoring position for DYLAN WATTS. Watts would promptly rope a single into right field to bring Mayo in to give the Hilltopper a 1-0 lead.
 
UT-Permian Basin (30-14) scratched a run across in the third inning, but St. Edward's would gain the advantage once again in the fourth inning. J.D. ARROWOOD was hit by a pitch to start the inning and Mayo placed a sacrifice bunt down to move him to second base. Wes Harris would ground out to shortstop allowing Arrowood to move to third base, but shortly after Arrowood would scramble home due to a wild pitch from Fairchild to give the Hilltoppers a 2-1 advantage.
 
The decisive hit would occur in the fifth inning, and it would ultimately prove to be pivotal for the Hilltoppers. After CUTTER RUNTE singled down the right field line to start the inning, A.J. HERMANSON would advance him to third by way of a double to left field. GABLE WHITACRE would step to the plate and wait patiently for an opportunity to strike. Whitacre finally found a pitch to rip and he slapped it down the first base line to score Hermanson and Runte, giving the Hilltoppers a 4-1 advantage.
 
UT-Permian Basin would score again in the sixth inning to cut the deficit to 4-2. However, St. Edward's would strike again in the eighth inning to give Stanton some breathing room. With the bases loaded, and just one out, Wes Harris would square up a 1-1 offering and send it to deep centerfield, allowing JOSEPH OLSON to score and give St. Edward's a 5-2 lead.
 
Stanton would shut the door in ninth inning to give the Hilltoppers the victory. He managed to retire the final 10 batters he face in arguably his strongest start of the year.
 
St. Edward's offensive attack was paced by GABLE WHITACRE, who went 2-for-3 with two doubles and two runs batted in. Stanton was masterful in his outing as he pitched the full nine innings, allowing just seven hits and two runs. Stanton's control was particularly impressive has he did not yield a single walk and threw 69 strikes out of his 100 pitches.
 
St. Edward's will await the winner of the St. Mary's and Arkansas Fort Smith game. First pitch from Dickinson Field is set for 3:30 p.m. tomorrow afternoon. Live video and stats will be available on the Rattler Athletic Website.