AUSTIN, Texas – St. Edward's Baseball claimed its third-consecutive Heartland Conference Regular-Season Championship with a doubleheader sweep of Newman on Friday afternoon at Lucian-Hamilton Field. The Hilltoppers took game one, 8-0, to clinch the title, and won game two, 3-1, to complete the sweep.
 
Leading the way for St. Edward's was J.D. ARROWOOD, who finished the day batting .429 with two runs and three RBI. He also hit his 16^th home run of the season in game one. WESLEY HARRIS and JOSEPH OLSON also turned in impressive days. Both seniors batted .500 over the two games and combined for three runs and two RBI. Harris has now reached base in 29-straight games, and Olson is riding a 16-game hitting streak. NICK LERICK also joined in on the long-ball party with his seventh home run of the season.
 
On the mound, ERIC HESTER earned his ninth win of the season with six innings of shutout baseball. He now boasts a staggering 1.52 season earned-run average. COLLIN SHERROD dazzled as well. He made the start in game two and pitched 6.2 innings of one-run baseball to improve to 9-1. The Hilltopper pitching staff now owns a combined ERA of 2.41 while holding hitters to a .226 batting average with seven shutout victories this season.
 
With one game remaining in the regular season, St. Edward's is 39-10 overall with a conference mark of 22-4. Newman is now 28-19 and 14-12. The win guarantees the Hilltoppers a No. 1 seed in the Heartland Conference Tournament.
 
"This feels outstanding," said head coach Rob Penders. "It's always a goal at the beginning of the year to win the Heartland Conference. If you do that you know you're going to have a lot of wins and be in a good spot to go to a regional, and I hope that's where we are right now. It's always good to win, and a great feeling to clinch it in the first game instead of the last game."
 
Game One: St. Edward's 8, Newman 0
 
Quality pitching by Hester erased the Hilltoppers lone error of the game in the top of the first, and the home team went in order in the bottom half. After that, it was all St. Edward's.
 
In the bottom of the second, Turner brought Whitacre home with a single to open up the scoring, and Arrowood led off the third with a towering home run over the right field netting. While the home run ball was still bouncing down Nottingham Lane, Lerick stepped in and took a home run of the three-run variety over the left-field netting.
 
A 6-0 lead was all St. Edward's would need. Hester held the Jets to two hits, and one walk in the final four innings. A double play by the Hilltopper defense erased the walk and a hit, and EVAN TUBBS came in to pitch a flawless seventh inning.
 
Game Two: St. Edward's 3, Newman 1
 
Game two opened in similar fashion to game one with a scoreless first inning. However, a scoreless second frame led to Newman getting on the board in the third. A RBI-single for Tyler Bugner put the visitors up 1-0.
 
However, Newman's lead was short lived. Arrowood walked to start the Hilltoppers' half of the fourth, and ROMEO CORTINA followed up with a double to left field. A single from Watts went right up the middle, plating Arrowood and Cortina to give St. Edward's a 2-1 lead.
 
Whitacre saved the tying run from scoring in the fifth, showing off his arm from left field and catching Bugner at the plate. Then, in the eighth frame, Turner preserved the lead with an impressive throw from center field, holding the runner at third. ANDREW BOES polished off the side by fooling the batter with a backdoor curveball.
 
St. Edward's added insurance in the bottom of the eighth with one run on a trio of hits. The scoring strike came off the bat of Olson who singled up the middle, and brought home Harris, making it 3-1 Hilltoppers.
 
Boes came in for the ninth as well. He retired the Jets in order with a strikeout, fly-out, and ground-out to earn the first save of his career on the hilltop.
 
Coach Penders and his team will close the series and the regular season on Saturday with a single game against the Jets at 1 p.m. The team will also celebrate senior day, with ceremonies beginning at 12:45 at Lucian-Hamilton Field. Fans can watch the game online or follow the live stats at GoHilltoppers.com.