CANYON, Texas – The pitching for St. Edward's Baseball overcame a shaky start to post a dominant performance, but it would not be enough as the Hilltoppers fell, 3-2, to Southwestern Oklahoma on Friday afternoon.
STUART SPRINGER pitched 4.2 innings of outstanding relief with eight strikeouts while giving up no earned runs, and just one hit.
ROMEO CORTINA continued his hot start as a Hilltopper with a double and a run scored. The junior transfer from Humble, Texas has recorded a hit in all four games this season with two going for extra bases.
DYLAN WATTS continued his consistency at the plate with another multi-hit game, his third of the year, and
WESLEY HARRIS tallied a run and a RBI.
The Hilltoppers move to 2-2 on the year. Southwestern Oklahoma improves to 1-0.
"Our offense needs to do a better job of putting quality at-bats together, throughout the lineup," said head coach Rob Penders. "We aren't getting that right now, and that is putting a lot of pressure on our pitching and defense. In four games, we have gone one inning where we hit up to our potential. That is not a recipe for success. However, our pitching has kept us in games, just like Springer did today, and given us a chance to win. He was outstanding, and once our offense starts clicking, the train will begin rolling. Let's hope it begins tomorrow."
The game opened with a scoreless first inning, but the Bulldogs got to Hilltopper starter,
BRYCE DAVIS in the second. A pair of runs on two hits was followed up by another hit in the third, and that brought Springer in from the bullpen.
The transfer from Virginia Tech gave up just one unearned run in the bottom of the fourth inning, and kept the SWOSU bats in check with just one hit. Springer surrendered the mound to
STUART PATKE who walked one batter before making a quick exit.
VINNY WHITENIGHT closed the bottom of the eighth with no harm done.
In the top of the ninth, Cortina smacked a one-out double to right field, and the comeback was on. He took third base on a passed ball, and a sacrifice fly from Harris cut the lead to one. However, the Bulldog closer squelched any further hopes of victory by forcing a fly ball to center field.
Davis was given the loss. He pitched 2.2 innings, and gave up two earned runs with a pair of strikeouts. St. Edward's earned-run average, as a staff, dropped to 1.69. In addition to the offensive contributions of Harris, Cortina, and Watts,
JOSEPH OLSON and
GABLE WHITACRE combined for a pair of hits.
Coach Penders and his team continue play at the West Texas A&M Tournament on Saturday against the host Buffs. The game is scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. with live stats and video available at GoHilltoppers.com. Fans can also follow the team on Twitter at @SEUBaseball, and on Facebook by searching St. Edward's University Baseball.
