AUSTIN, Texas. – Senior pitcher BRANDON BOONE helped St. Edward's baseball to its first win of the season Saturday in a 3-1 victory over Northeastern State, after the Hilltoppers dropped the first game of the doubleheader, 5-2.
 
Boone, a transfer from West Virginia, pitched six shutout innings with seven strikeouts in his debut as a Hilltopper. At the plate, Zach Schindler went 3-for-4 in game one and ROMEO CORTINA did the same in game two. CARSON COX and BLAKE ALEXANDER combined to score four runs.
 
St. Edward's (1-1) opened the season ranked seventh in the nation by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), 11th by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and 20th by D2 Baseball News. Northeastern State (1-1) finished the 2016 season 27-23 ranked sixth in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game One

• Sophomore transfer TANNER LAWSON opened his career at St. Edward's with a 1-2-3 first inning.
• Despite three no-hit innings from Lawson, the RiverHawks struck first in the fourth, scoring on an error and a ground-ball RBI.
• TJ GISELBACH tied it up in the bottom of the fourth with a two-RBI single to left field, scoring Cox and Alexander.
• In the top of the seventh, Northeastern took advantage of a hit batter and a walk, scoring three runs to win the game.

 
Game Two

• Boone allowed just one RiverHawk baserunner through four innings of work.
• St. Edward's broke the 0-0 tie as Cortina singled, then stole second, and advanced to third on a passed ball.
• HUNTER COURSON padded the Hilltoppers lead with a two-RBI single in the bottom of the seventh.
• An error in the eighth allowed Northeastern State to make it 3-1.
• JACOB VASQUEZ retired the RiverHawks in order in the bottom of the ninth to record his first save as a Hilltopper.

 
HILLTOPPER NOTES

• St. Edward's is 2-2 in the all-time series against Northeastern State.
• Head Coach Rob Penders has started 1-1 in three straight seasons.
• A total of 13 student-athletes made their debuts as Hilltoppers Friday.
• Alexander and Schindler were the only two Hilltoppers to record hits in both games.

 
QUOTE BOARD: HEAD COACH ROB PENDERS
"I wish we'd have gotten two wins, but when you give up as many free bases as we did today, we're lucky to get one. We made way too many mistakes defensively and pitching. We're looking to improve on that come tomorrow."
 
UP NEXT
St. Edward's closes the three-game series Saturday at 1 p.m. on Lucian-Hamilton Field. Live stats and video will be available at GoHilltoppers.com.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Score: #7 St. Edward's 2-3, Northeastern State 5-1
Records: St. Edward's (1-1), Northeastern State (1-1)
Attendance: 279
 
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