WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.
– St. Edward's baseball tied or led in both games of its doubleheader Saturday, but Palm Beach Atlantic rallied past the Hilltoppers to take both contests, 4-3 and 6-4, respectively.
ROMEO CORTINA was 4-for-8 at the plate with a run and a double.
WILLIAM HAIRSTON had two runs on three hits and a RBI.
GABLE WHITACRE finished his day going 2-for-6 with three RBI and a run scored.
A total of four Hilltopper pitchers combined for 10 strikeouts in two games. Neither starter factored into their respective decisions.
St. Edward's (12-8) suffers its first series sweep since March 14-15, 2014 against Lubbock Christian. Palm Beach (12-6) improves to 3-0 all time against the Hilltoppers.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game One (Palm Beach Atlantic 4, St. Edward's 3)
W – Denton (2-2) L – Bach (0-2)
- The Sailfish scored single runs in the first and third innings to take an early 2-0 lead.
- St. Edward's tied it up in the fourth inning with runs from Hairston and BLAKE ALEXANDER.
- Palm Beach Atlantic regained the lead in the sixth on a RBI single, but St. Edward's tied it in the seventh frame on Hairston's sacrifice fly RBI.
- The home team walked it off in the bottom of the ninth on another RBI single.
Game Two (Palm Beach Atlantic 6, St. Edward's 4)
W – Paul (3-0) L – Chupik (0-2)
- Whitacre struck first for the Hilltoppers in the opening frame, driving in Hairston to make it 1-0.
- Palm Beach Atlantic made it 1-1 in the second with an RBI groundout.
- Cortina, Cox, and Whitacre came across the plate in the third, putting St. Edward's up 4-1.
- The Sailfish stormed back with five unanswered runs over three innings to clinch the win.
HILLTOPPER NOTES
- Head coach Rob Penders is three wins away from 400 career victories.
- Alexander has reached base safely in 13 straight games.
- Whitacre has driven in multiple runs in nine games this season.
QUOTE BOARD: HEAD COACH ROB PENDERS
"We were outplayed by a better team this weekend. Hopefully we can learn from this and understand that the type of baseball we saw played against us this weekend is the kind we need to emulate to win a championship."
UP NEXT
St. Edward's begins Heartland Conference play Friday at Newman with a doubleheader at 3 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at GoHilltoppers.com.
GAME INFORMATION
Score: Palm Beach Atlantic 4-6, St. Edward's 3-4
Records: St. Edward's (12-8), Palm Beach Atlantic (12-6)
For the latest information on the St. Edward's University Baseball team, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at @SEUBaseball, or visit us at www.GoHilltoppers.com.
