AUSTIN, Texas – St. Edward's Baseball and LIU Post combined for 30 runs on 51 hits in two games as the teams split Saturday's doubleheader. The Pioneers took game one, 5-3 and the Hilltoppers claimed game two, 17-5.
 
A total of eight home runs were hit on the day, with the home team tallying five of them. J.D. ARROWOOD went yard in game one, his fifth of the season. In game two, GABLE WHITACRE, JOSEPH OLSON, ROMEO CORTINA, and NICK LERICK all used the long ball to St. Edward's benefit.
 
Overall, Lerick went wild for the Hilltoppers, going 4-for-4 in game two, coming a double shy of the cycle. He finished the day 5-for-8 with three runs and three RBI. Whitacre finished the day 5-for-9 with two runs and four RBI. Olson went 4-for-8 with four runs, and drove in one. Arrowood cashed in three hits in eight at-bats, three RBI, and a pair of runs. ROMEO CORTINA, KELSIE DANCER, DYLAN WATTS, and WESLEY HARRIS all joined the multi-hit party in game two as well.
 
BRYCE DAVIS came out of the bullpen in game one and provided five innings of one-run relief. STUART SPRINGER made his third start of the season in game two, and moved to 3-0. He lasted seven innings and struck out three.
 
Despite breaking their nine-game winning streak, the Hilltoppers have won 10 of their last 11 games. St. Edward's is now 12-4 overall. LIU Post falls to 1-6.
 
"We didn't have a good two-strike approach in game one," said head coach Rob Penders. "We struck out too much and had two outs on the bases. Out of 21 outs in a seven-inning game we gave them 11, and that makes it hard to produce. We made a commitment, and we've been stressing it all year. The guys finally bought in in that second game it looked like.  They realized it's going to make a big difference, and it did; as you saw."
 
Game 1: LIU Post 5 St. Edward's 3
 
LIU Post flipped roles on the home team, and put the Hilltoppers in a hole for the first time at home this season. The Pioneers took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but St. Edward's took no time to respond.
 
In the bottom half of the opening inning, Olson hit a one-out double, and J.D. ARROWOOD came up big for the Hilltoppers again. The senior first baseman took one pitch for a ball, and then launched the next one high over the right field netting onto St. Edward's Drive. However, the 2-1 lead was far from safe.
 
The top of the second inning led to two more Pioneer runs on four hits. LIU Post put together two singles with a pair of doubles sandwiched between to score the runs. However, a powerful throw from ROMEO CORTINA in right field saved a run at home, and DYLAN WATTS nabbed a pop-up in foul territory to end the inning.
 
Runs in the third, and fourth for the visitors increased their lead to 5-2, but St. Edward's would cut that to one in the bottom of the fourth. With two outs, Lerick put a ball into center field for a double, and WESLEY HARRIS brought him in with a single through the left side. Unfortunately, quality pitching by the Pioneers kept the Hilltoppers from scoring more.
 
Stout defense and quality pitching held LIU Post scoreless in the last three innings, but the Hilltopper bats stayed silent. A pair of hits for St. Edward's in the final two frames did not change the final result.
 
 
Game 2:
 
Game two saw St. Edward's back to familiar ways as the Hilltoppers struck first in the bottom of the first inning. After a leadoff single from GABLE WHITACRE, Arrowood singled and stole second base to put runners on second and third. A Pioneer fielding error scored both base runners, and Cortina came in to score on a Lerick single.
 
The 3-0 held up for one full inning before LIU Post struck back. In the third frame the Pioneers used a two-run home run, and a RBI double to tie the game. Coach Penders' team responded in convincing fashion.
 
Olson smacked a double down the right-field line to lead things off, and advanced to third on an Arrowood ground ball. Cortina singled to score Olson while sparking a scoring frenzy. Lerick homered to left center, making it 6-3, and the home team added two more to make it 8-3.
 
The home squad followed up by scoring in three consecutive innings.. St. Edward's outburst included a seven-run deluge in the sixth as well, and a run for the visitors in the seventh made no difference.
 
The Hilltoppers and Pioneers conclude their series on the hilltop tomorrow with one nine-inning affair. Noon is the scheduled start time with live stats and video available at GoHilltoppers.com as St. Edward's looks for its 13^th win.