CLEBURNE, Texas – St. Edward's baseball used a home run from TJ GISELBACH in the seventh inning Thursday to take the lead in its 12-8 upset of top-seeded Lubbock Christian in the first round of the Heartland Conference Tournament.
 
Giselbach finished the day 1-for-3 at the plate with five RBI. ROMEO CORTINA and JACOB VASQUEZ combined to score four runs on seven hits with four RBI. BLAKE ALEXANDER hit his sixth home run of the season, and the first in the history of The Depot at Cleburne Station.
 
On the mound, AUSTIN WEAVER (4-0) got the win with five innings of two-run, two-hit relief. He struck out one batter and walked none. STUART SPRINGER also made an appearance in relief after a brief start from BALLARD INFANTE.
 
St. Edward's (31-18) evens the season series with Lubbock Christian (36-13) at 2-2. The ninth-ranked Chaps fall within one loss of elimination from the tournament.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Vasquez and Cortina tallied back-to-back, one-out singles in the opening frame, and GABLE WHITACRE worked a walk to load the bases.
• Two more walks and a wild pitch by the Chaps put SEU ahead, 3-0.
• Lubbock Christian used four walks in the bottom of the first inning to make it 3-1.
• Alexander's home run in the top of the third inning extended St. Edward's lead to 4-1.
• The Chaps rallied back with five runs on seven hits over the next three innings to take a 6-4 lead.
• The Hilltopper offense exploded in the seventh inning as TROY ANDERSON, WILLIAM HAIRSTON and Vasquez opened the inning with three straight singles.
• Cortina tied the game 6-6 with a two-RBI single, and Giselbach gave SEU the lead with a three-run home run to make it 9-6.
• Two runs in the eighth and another run in the ninth gave St. Edward's the insurance it needed.
• Weaver squashed Lubbock Christian's attempt to rally with three groundouts in the ninth.  

 
HILLTOPPER NOTES

• St. Edward's trails the all-time series with Lubbock Christian 21-10, but has won three of its last five games against the Chaps.
• The Hilltoppers have not lost in the first round of the conference tournament since 2012.
• Cortina has reached base safely in 31-straight games and Whitacre is riding a 12-game hitting streak.
• The Hilltoppers are 9-1 in their last 10 games.

 
QUOTE BOARD: HEAD COACH ROB PENDERS
"It was a crazy game. One of the better pitchers in the league struggled to find the strike zone in the first inning and gave us some runs, but then we handed it right back to them. However, it's the playoffs and you just want to survive and advance. We were fortunate enough to do that."
 
UP NEXT
St. Edward's faces second-seeded UA Fort Smith Friday at 3:30 p.m. inside The Depot at Cleburne Station. Live stats and video will be available at GoHilltoppers.com.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Score: St. Edward's 12, Lubbock Christian 8
Records: St. Edward's (31-18), #9 Lubbock Christian (36-13)
W – Weaver (4-0) L – Contreras (9-2)
Attendance: 117
 
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.