FORT SMITH, Ark. – J.D. ARROWOOD's case to repeat as an All-American grew stronger on Saturday, as he jacked two home runs to help St. Edward's Baseball clinch its three-game sweep over Arkansas Fort Smith by a score of 9-1.
 
Arrowood was the only Hilltopper with multiple hits and finished the game batting .400 with two runs and four RBI. On the weekend he had three hits, all home runs, and scored four times while driving in seven. KEVIN MAYO also scored twice in the finale, and NATE TURNER tallied two RBI.
 
On the mound, STUART SPRINGER earned his seventh win of the season with seven innings of shutout baseball. He only allowed four hits with two walks, and struck out five.
 
In the three-game set, St. Edward's scored 42 runs on 44 hits. The pitching staff struck out 18 and held the Lions to a batting average of .239.
 
The Hilltoppers are now 28-9 overall with a Heartland Conference record of 11-4. They remained tied with Lubbock Christian for the top spot in the league. Fort Smith is now 18-15 and 7-8 after starting conference play 6-0.
 
"Springer gave us a tremendous start, and our hitters continued to put great at-bats together, as they have all weekend," said head coach Rob Penders. "The offense has been encouraging this weekend. This team is a lot of fun to watch when we play together as an offensive unit, and that is what we did again today."
 
After Friday's offensive outburst of 44 runs between the two teams, Saturday's game got off to a comparatively slow start. However, in the third inning, Arrowood changed all of that.
 
Mayo reached base to open the inning after getting plunked by the pitcher. Then, a sacrifice bunt from Turner moved Mayo to second. JOSEPH OLSON worked a walk before Arrowood stepped in to clear the bases. His 12^th home run of the season went over the right-field fence, and put the Hilltoppers up, 3-0.
 
Turner doubled in a run in the fourth to make it 5-0, and WESLEY HARRIS followed up with a sacrifice fly to make it half a dozen. GABLE WHITACRE, NICK LERICK, and Mayo all came across the plate.
 
St. Edward's made it three innings straight with a run on the board with Arrowood's solo home run in the fifth. A pair of luxury runs came across in the sixth thanks to a wild pitch, and a RBI-single by Olson.
 
The Lion's lone run came in the eighth on a double steal, but it was all the offense Fort Smith could find. GRAYSON PRATT and CAM HATCH combined to pitch the final two innings.
 
Coach Penders and his team return home next weekend for the Battle of the Saints. The Hilltoppers and Rattlers of St. Mary's will open the weekend with a doubleheader on Friday at 1:30 p.m. A single, nine-inning game will cap the series off on Saturday at 1 p.m. The series will also feature a tailgate at Saturday's game with tables available for reservation. Live stats and video of the games will be at GoHilltoppers.com.