OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – St. Edward's Baseball rode the bat of ROMEO CORTINA all the way to a 10-5 win over Oklahoma Christian in its rain-delayed, series finale on Monday afternoon. Cortina went 4-for-4 with four home runs and six RBI.
 
With his performance, Cortina leads all divisions of the NCAA for home runs in a single game this season. He is also tied for second in NCAA Division II history, and St. Edward's history for home runs in a single game. He is second only to St. Edward's own Josh Hamilton who hit five against Panhandle State in 2003.
 
Other multi-hit performances included MILES WRIGHT, who finished the game 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles and a run scored. J.D. ARROWOOD went 2-for-4 and scored twice. WESLEY HARRIS tallied two hits, two RBI, and a run. JOSEPH OLSON skipped on the multiple hits, and chose to smack a home run of his own.
 
On the mound, ERIC HESTER came in for six innings of quality relief to earn the win. He finished the day giving up two runs on five hits with seven strikeouts, and is now 3-2 on the year.
 
As a team, the Hilltoppers hit five home runs on 12 hits with no errors. They are now 17-7 overall, and 1-2 in the Heartland Conference. Oklahoma Christian falls to 10-9 and 2-1.
 
"We competed offensively to win today," said head coach Rob Penders. "Obviously the day Romeo had doesn't occur very often. It was an incredible individual performance by him. ERIC HESTER did an outstanding job as well, silencing their bats to help us get the game under control. Hopefully we can carry this momentum into next weekend."
 
Oklahoma Christian struck first again, scoring two runs on a home run in the first. However, after two games of absentee offense, the Hilltopper bats came alive.
 
Cortina responded in the top of the second with a solo home run to left field. Olson hit a two-run shot in the third, and Cortina smacked his second bomb of the game in the fourth.
 
Oklahoma Christian strung together three hits with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. A single to left field scored two, giving the lead back to the Eagles, 5-4.
 
The lead did not last long for the home squad. Cortina came to bat in the sixth and hit his third home run of the day, driving in Arrowood, and putting the Hilltoppers ahead, 6-5.
 
St. Edward's poured it on in the eighth as well. After a walk to Arrowood it was Cortina's turn again. The junior outfielder made it four home runs in four at-bats, sending the ball to left field, and extending the lead to 8-5. The visitors added two more runs on a single by Harris to make it 10-5.
 
Hester collected four strikeouts in the final six outs, and capped it off by freezing the final Eagle hitter, looking.
 
Coach Penders and his team continue Heartland Conference play on Friday in Odessa, Texas against UT-Permian Basin. The doubleheader is set to begin at 1 p.m. Live stats will be available at GoHilltoppers.com.