CLEBURNE, Texas – RYAN HILL, JOSH GUERRA, and BEN MORALEZ provided 5.1 innings of scoreless relief Friday as St. Edward's defeated second-seeded Arkansas Fort Smith and advanced to the Heartland Tournament Championship.
 
Hill (3-1) earned the win in relief with no runs on one hit, two walks, and three strikeouts. Guerra and Moralez combined for three innings of one-hit, shutout work. BRANDON BOONE made his 11th start of the season, but did not factor in the decision.
 
At the plate, TROY ANDERSON went 3-for-4 with two runs, three RBI, and the first home run of his career. BLAKE ALEXANDER also scored twice as he finished the day 2-for-5. GABLE WHITACRE, ROMEO CORTINA, and HUNTER COURSON all tallied multiple hits for SEU as well.
 
St. Edward's (32-18) advances to its fifth-straight tournament championship. UA Fort Smith (31-19) will need to beat the Hilltoppers twice Saturday in the championship series in order to win a Heartland title.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Arkansas Fort Smith scored first with a RBI single in the top of the second inning.
• Alexander tied it 1-1 in the bottom of the second frame after a one-out double.
• Still in the second, TJ GISELBACH singled and Courson walked to set the table for Anderson's three-run home run, making it 4-1 Hilltoppers.
• St. Edward's made it 7-1 with three runs on four hits in the third inning.
• The Lions took advantage of Hilltopper miscues in the fourth inning and pulled within two runs, 7-5.
• Anderson sparked three more runs in the fifth inning with a one-out single as SEU increased its lead to 10-5.
• The Hilltopper bullpen proceeded to throw four scoreless innings to clinch the win.

 
HILLTOPPER NOTES

• St. Edward's has won seven straight games and 10 of its last 11.
• The Hilltoppers are 25-8 in the all-time series against the Lions and 3-1 this season.
• Cortina has reached base safely in 32-straight games, and Courson has reached in 20 straight.
• Whitacre and Giselbach have hitting streaks of 13 and 11, respectively.
• St. Edward's only the second team in Heartland Conference history to advance to the championship game as the No. 4 seed.

 
QUOTE BOARD: HEAD COACH ROB PENDERS
"This game is obviously one of the biggest games in the tournament to win. We were ecstatic to get ahead by as much as we did early. Of course, good teams are going to claw back like Fort Smith did. When you put up that many runs with the wind blowing the way it is, it's pretty surprising. Our hitters really did a great job against their guy, and it was great to get the win."
 
UP NEXT
St. Edward's faces UA Fort Smith Saturday at noon in the championship game. If the Lions win, a second game will be played 45 minutes after completion of the first game to decide a champion. Live stats and video will be available at GoHilltoppers.com.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Score: St. Edward's 10, UA Fort Smith 5
Records: St. Edward's (32-18), UA Fort Smith (31-19)
W – Hill (3-1) L – Nelson (6-6)
Attendance: 155
 
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.