LAREDO, Texas – St. Edward's baseball came just shy of sweeping its series with Texas A&M-International Saturday, as the Dustdevils hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to win, 5-4.
 
HUNTER COURSON led the SEU offense at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a RBI. JACOB VASQUEZ turned in a multi-hit day with a 2-for-5, one-run performance.
 
On the mound, TANNER LAWSON made his first start in over three weeks but did not factor in the decision. Lawson went 4.2 innings with three runs (one earned) on four hits and three strikeouts. AUSTIN WEAVER and JACOB VASQUEZ both appeared in relief.
 
St. Edward's (25-18, 11-10 Heartland) remains in sixth place in the conference standings. Texas A&M-International (11-27, 5-13 Heartland) snaps a six-game losing streak.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• ROMEO CORTINA and BLAKE ALEXANDER gave St. Edward's an early 2-0 lead with RBI in the opening frame.
• Lawson and the Hilltoppers' defense held TAMIU to two hits over the first four innings.
• In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Dustdevils cashed in three runs on two hits and a SEU error to take a 3-2 lead.
• TJ GISELBACH and Courson each drove in a run in the eighth inning to retake the lead for St. Edward's.
• In the bottom of the ninth inning, Ricky Gonzalez hit a leadoff home run to give TAMIU the walk-off win.

 
HILLTOPPER NOTES

• St. Edward's holds a commanding 46-10 lead in the all-time series with Texas A&M-International.
• The last time SEU suffered at least 18 losses in one season was 2013 when it made an appearance at the DII College World Series.
• Cortina has reached base safely in 25-straight games.
• Vasquez has surrendered just one earned run and five hits in eight appearances this season.

 
QUOTE BOARD: HEAD COACH ROB PENDERS
"We did a lot of things well today against a couple of their best pitchers, but we just couldn't come out on top. Sometimes, that happens in baseball. However, if we play this hard and dedicated to the fundamentals the rest of the way, we will finish just fine.
 
UP NEXT
St. Edward's travels to Denver for a three-game set with Regis out of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC). The series opens Friday at 4 p.m. (CT) with live stats and video available at GoHilltoppers.com.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Score: Texas A&M-International 5, St. Edward's 4
Records: St. Edward's (25-18, 11-10 Heartland), Texas A&M-International (11-27, 5-13 Heartland)
W – Perales (1-2) L – Vasquez (0-1)
Attendance: 450
 
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.