Baseball | 5/18/2016 10:20:00 PM

NCAA Regional Tournament Game Notes

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – St. Edward's Baseball is prepped and ready to open its fifth-straight NCAA Regional Tournament on Thursday against Texas A&M-Kingsville at Sam Suplizio Field. A bid to the NCAA Division II College World Series in Cary, North Carolina is on the line.
 
The Hilltoppers are 43-10 after winning the Heartland Conference regular-season and tournament championships. Texas A&M-Kingsville enters the postseason with a mark of 34-17 following a disappointing appearance in the Lone Start Conference Tournament.
 
First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m. (CT) with live stats and video available at GoHilltoppers.com. A preview of the Hilltoppers can be found below and in the attached notes.
 
PENDERS' IMPACT: St. Edward's Head Coach Rob Penders has led the Hilltoppers to six NCAA Regional Tournaments, and five-straight in the last five years...no other school in the state of Texas has ever gone to five-consecutive NCAA Division II Regional Tournaments...only 20 schools in the country have accomplished the same feat over Penders' 10-year tenure on the hilltop.
 
ARROWOOD'S RETURN: Senior first-baseman J.D. ARROWOOD was selected in the 2015 MLB First-Year Player Draft...since returning for his senior season, Arrowood has increased his home run total from three his junior season to 17 this year while increasing his slugging percentage and doubles numbers...recently named the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association South Central Region Co-Player of the Year...also named first-team all-Heartland Conference.
 
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Right fielder ROMEO CORTINA was named the Heartland Conference Newcomer of the Year...also earned Heartland Conference Tournament MVP honors...in a game against Oklahoma Christian this season, he went 4-for-4 with four home runs, marking the best single-game home run performance in all of NCAA Division II this season...in the season finale against Newman he hit the game-tying, and walk-off home runs, going 2-for-2 in his last two at-bats on Senior Day.
 
COMIN' IN HOT: St. Edward's currently holds the longest active winning streak in NCAA Division II with 12-straight victories...it is the second-longest streak across all divsions...the top streak in the NCAA is 15 wins by SUNY-Cortland in Division III...Point Loma holds the next longest run in Division II at nine wins.
 
GOING STREAKIN': A total of four Hilltoppers hold active hitting streaks of 10 games, or more... JOSEPH OLSON currently leads the team with a streak of 20 games, while ROMEO CORTINA has recorded a hit in 19-straight games... WESLEY HARRIS currently leads all Hilltoppers with a reached-base streak of 33...three other Hilltoppers have reached base in 20-straight games.
 
STRAIGHT DEALIN': ERIC HESTER used 47 pitches to retire 21 batters in a seven-inning, complete-game shutout against Panhandle State... Hester faced the minimum number of batters, and struck out four.