AUSTIN, Texas – COLLIN SHERROD and STUART SPRINGER both made quality starts on the mound as St. Edward's swept Houston-Victoria in its home-opening doubleheader on Friday. The Hilltoppers took game one, 7-0, and game two, 3-1.
 
Sherrod combined with ANDREW BOES for a seven-inning shutout in game one. He left the game after six innings of work with no runs, and six strikeouts. Springer made his first start for the Hilltoppers, and lasted seven innings, giving up just one run and striking out seven. Also on the mound, JUAN CORTINA collected his second save of the season with a perfect ninth inning in game two. CAM HATCH and Boes also provided flawless relief.
 
At the plate, St. Edward's bats came alive on its home field. J.D. ARROWOOD hit his first  home run of the season, going 4-for-5 with one run and two RBI. DYLAN WATTS added a home run of his own in a two-run outing, and JOSEPH OLSON went 3-for-6, collecting two doubles, two RBI, and scoring twice as well. RYAN MCPHAIL scored three runs on three hits in two games, and WESLEY HARRIS cashed in with three hits.
 
The pair of wins moves the Hilltoppers to 5-3 on the year. Houston-Victoria drops to 1-6. St. Edward's now leads the all-time series, 9-2.
 
"Any time you can get in a comfortable place, it helps and that was what we had today," said head coach Rob Penders. "It was good to see our guys swing the bat well. Especially in the first game, we really put a lot of pressure on them. Springer pitched outstanding in relief last weekend, and he was a guy we brought in thinking he would be starter. So it was good to have him perform well enough to earn the start. He did exactly what we assumed he was going to do. Hopefully we can come back on winning note tomorrow, like we did today."
 
Game One: St. Edward's 7 Houston-Victoria 0
 
St. Edward's opened its home schedule under sunny skies with temperatures in the 70s, but for the Jaguars it was all but sunny. Sherrod retired the Jaguars in order to start the game, and the Hilltopper bats came out hot.
 
McPhail singled to start the bottom of the first, and a walk to Harris put runners on first and second. GABLE WHITACRE put a ball on the ground to advance the runners, and a wild pitch brought in the first run of the game, as McPhail came in from third. Olson tacked on a second run, using his first double of the day to score Harris, and after one complete inning, the Hilltoppers led, 2-0.
 
The home team scored another pair of runs in the second. The first came on a single from Harris, scoring NATE TURNER. Whitacre followed that up with a sacrifice fly in foul territory that was eventually called dead, even though McPhail had scored safely from third before the call.
 
Coach Penders' squad added a run of insurance the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings, and Boes came on to close out in the seventh. The senior transfer from Texas State sat  the Jaguars down in order with a ground out, fly out, and strikeout to maintain the hold.
 
Sherrod was give the win, and moved to 2-0 on the year with an earned-run average of 0.00. The senior ace is now in position to become the school's all-time leader in strikeouts, and tie the record for career wins next weekend, on homecoming.
 
Game Two: St. Edward's 3 Houston-Victoria 1
 
Power was the name of the game in the second half of the doubleheader. With a pitcher's duel under way, both teams started swinging for the fences.
 
In the bottom of the second, Olson was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, and then J.D. ARROWOOD muscled a ball over the fence in left-center, the opposite field, to make it 2-0. Watts followed that up with a solo shot of his own to left field, and that would be all the Hilltoppers needed.
 
Houston-Victoria continued the derby in the top of the fourth inning with a singe-run home run of its own, but Springer was in a zone and could not be fazed.
 
The transfer from Virginia Tech continued to mow down Jaguars with three more strikeouts before giving up the rubber to Hatch in the eighth. Hatch put on a clinic, throwing 12 pitches for 12 strikes, and three punch-outs. JUAN CORTINA continued in similar fashion in the ninth, drawing two fly balls, and striking out the final batter.
 
Springer earned his first win in a St. Edward's uniform, and the Hilltopper pitching staff dropped their season earned-run average to 2.08. A total of four pitchers in the rotation and bullpen including: Cortina, Sherrod, GRAYSON PRATT, and STUART PATKE, have yet to surrender an earned run.
 
The Hilltopper offense hit .327 on the day and raised their season average to .284. As a team, they are now slugging .380 with 16 hits for extra bases.
 
Coach Penders and his team travel to Victoria, Texas on Saturday, and look to complete their first series sweep of the season. The rematch between the Jaguars and St. Edward's is set to begin at 3 p.m. at Riverside Stadium. As of Friday evening, no live stats or video of the game will be available. Fans can check Twitter (@SEUBaseball) and GoHilltoppers.com for results.