Grand Junction, Colo. – A day that featured two elimination games for St. Edward's Baseball resulted in a pair of victories, and a berth in the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament Championship game. The Hilltoppers eliminated Texas A&M-Kingsville in game one, 7-5, and then knocked out Lubbock Christian, 10-5, in game two.
 
At the plate, DYLAN WATTS wrecked havoc on both pitching staffs, going 5-for-8 with two doubles and a triple. He finished the day with one run and four RBI. J.D. ARROWOOD also flexed his muscle on offense as he smashed two home runs against the Chaparrals, and tied St. Edward's single-season record for long balls with 20. NICK LERICK and GABLE WHITACRE swung a hot bat as well as they each tallied four hits, and combined to score six runs with four RBI.
 
On the mound, STUART SPRINGER gave the Hilltoppers a much-needed complete-game victory against Lubbock Christian. He lasted nine innings and struck out nine Chaparrals. With the win, he moves to 10-1 and becomes the fourth St. Edward's pitcher with 10 wins this season. UC-San Diego is the only other NCAA Division II program to accomplished the same feat since 2000.
 
CAMERON STANTON also provided a valuable 6.2-inning start against Texas A&M-Kingsville. He did not factor in the decision, but did strike out five Javelinas. Instead, JUAN CORTINA earned the victory in relief and improved to 2-0 while ANDREW BOES recorded his fourth save of the season.
 
At 46-11 overall, the 2016 Hilltoppers now hold the program record for victories in a single season. The 11 losses are also the least for St. Edward's since 1967.
 
"I cannot say enough about Springer's performance tonight," said head coach Rob Penders. "If you're going to win this thing you're going to need some out-of-the-box efforts. That's not to say he hasn't given this effort for us all year, but do it on this stage is remarkable and incredible. You don't forget these kind of things when you're in playoff baseball. It's amazing what he did, and it bounces us to tomorrow. Now we have a rested bullpen, and have some guys who haven't thrown. He did his job and the bats were outstanding tonight."
 
Game One: St. Edward's 7, Texas A&M-Kingsville 5
 
In the first win-or-go-home contest of the day, Texas A&M-Kingsville struck first with a run in the second inning. However, St. Edward's proved ready for battle.
 
Watts provided a response for St. Edward's in the top of the third with a bases-clearing triple. ROMEO CORTINA, Arrowood, and WESLEY HARRIS all came around to score, giving the Hilltoppers a 3-1 lead.
 
Another hit for Watts in the fifth made it 4-1. He singled up the middle, and plated JOSEPH OLSON for his fourth RBI of the game.
 
The Javelinas followed up with runs in back-to-back innings. A pair of runs in the fifth, and two more in the sixth gave Kingsville a 5-4 lead.
 
In the eighth inning, St. Edward's took the lead for good.  KEVIN MAYO tied the game by laying down a sacrifice bunt that turned into a Javelina throwing error. Whitacre came into score on the miscue and tied the game at five. Olson then gave the Hilltoppers a two-run lead with a single up the middle, scoring Mayo and Lerick.
 
JUAN CORTINA, VINNY WHITENIGHT and Boes all worked in relief to close out the game. Cortina struck out one in the eighth before Whitenight caught the second out looking, and Boes closed it all out.
 
Game Two: St. Edward's 10, Lubbock Christian 5
 
In St. Edward's second elimination showdown, the most discernible difference proved to be the Hilltoppers scoring first. A run in the top of the first came off the bat of ROMEO CORTINA on a two-out, RBI double. Another run in the second inning came by way of a sacrifice fly from Harris, making it 2-0 Hilltoppers.
 
Lubbock Christian responded with a two-run home run in the second inning, tying the game at two. However, St. Edward's could not be stopped.
 
Arrowood homered in the third to give the Hilltoppers the lead. He went yard again in the fifth to make it 4-2. This marks the fourth time Arrowood has homered twice in one game this season.
 
A trio of runs in the sixth pushed St. Edward's advantage to 7-2. Despite scoring in the sixth and seventh, Lubbock Christian could not overcome the pitching of Springer, backed up by the Hilltopper defense.
 
Coach Penders and his team now face Angelo State on Sunday at 1 p.m. (CT) in another elimination scenario for a chance to go to the NCAA Division II College World Series in Cary, North Carolina. If the Hilltoppers win they will play another game agains the Rams at 4:30 p.m. Live stats and video of the contest will be available at GoHilltoppers.com.