GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – St. Edward's Baseball cut a 6-0 deficit to just two runs against Angelo State, but could not complete the comeback as they fell, 6-4, on Friday evening in the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament.
The comeback effort was highlighted by historic home runs from
NICK LERICK and
GABLE WHITACRE. Lerick's bomb tied the program record for home runs by a team in a single season, and Whitacre broke the record with his long shot. The Hilltoppers have now hit 67 home runs this season.
Despite the loss,
WESLEY HARRIS extended his reached-base streak to 35 games. He also scored and drove in a run.
KEVIN MAYO joined Harris, Whitacre, and Lerick with a run of his own.
ROMEO CORTINA accounted for the fourth RBI.
On the mound,
COLLIN SHERROD battled for 6.2 innings and struck out five batters along the way. A hot start for the Rams forced the loss on Sherrod moving his record to 10-2.
VINNY WHITENIGHT,
CAM HATCH, and
JUAN CORTINA combined to provide 2.1 innings of one-hit, scoreless relief.
On the season, St. Edward's is now 44-11. Angelo State improves to 37-20.
"It was a hard-fought game for both teams," said head coach Rob Penders. "They got ahead early, and we tried to claw back, and we did. However, they went to their closer who has been one of the best in the country for the past three or four years. It's one of those games that could go either way at the swing of a bat, but that's baseball. We're going to come back tomorrow and see what we have."
Angelo State jumped ahead early with three unearned runs in the first. Another pair of runs in the second, and one more in the third put St. Edward's in a 6-0 hole.
However, the Hilltoppers would not go down without a fight. Lerick opened up the bottom of the third with his home run, and Mayo followed up with a double. A ground ball by
NATE TURNER put Mayo on third, and Harris singled up the middle to bring in the run. A
ROMEO CORTINA single made it 6-3, and the rally was on.
Whitacre kept things rolling in the fourth, with a leadoff home run of his own. That would make the score 6-4. However, quality pitching from the Rams would stop St. Edward's come-from-behind effort short.
Coach Penders and his squad now face Texas A&M-Kingsville for the second time in this tournament on Saturday in a win-or-go-home showdown. It is the second time the two teams have played in this tournament, and fourth time this season. First pitch is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. (CT) with live stats and video at GoHilltoppers.com.
