Box Score Box Score

THE RUNDOWN
GOLDEN, Colo. – BLAKE ALEXANDER's first career grand slam in the eighth inning gave St. Edward's baseball team a 10-9 lead over Colorado School of Mines after entering the frame down 9-0. Mines forced extra innings with one run in the ninth, but SEU came out on top 12-10 after a two RBI double came off of ZACH SCHINDLER's bat on Sunday at Jim Darden Field.
 
Alexander was 2-for-5 at the dish and his lone run scored was the 50^th of his career. WILLIAM HAIRSTON, ROBBIE LAMMONS, DANIEL PRIWIN, and Schindler each tallied three hits, and DOM THORNTON logged his first multiple hit game with a 2-for-2 performance at the plate and two runs scored.  
 
Through seven innings, the Orediggers (4-3) held a 9-0 lead behind three moon shots that accounted for five runs. The Hilltoppers' (5-4) bats caught fire in the eighth however, as they scored ten runs on ten hits, highlighted by Alexander's grand salami to take a one-run advantage. Mines went down 1-2-3 in the bottom frame but mustard one run in the ninth to force extra innings.
 
In the tenth stanza facing two outs, Schindler doubled to right center field and crossed two runners to take a 12-10 lead. His efforts would not be wasted and aside from one single in the bottom half, the defense took care of business to steal the last game of the series, 12-10.
 
JAKE DAVIS (1-1) recorded his first career win with the Hilltoppers after striking out one in three innings. COOPER BAILEY started on the bump and threw 3.1 innings in his SEU debut, while relief pitchers CHRIS LOGAN and AUSTIN WEAVER both saw the field and split four strikeouts evenly.
 
HIGHLIGHTS
• After splitting the season series 2-2, the Hilltoppers are 6-4 all-time vs. the Orediggers.
• SEU hit a season high of 19 hits in the win.
• WILLIAM HAIRSTON's first double of the day was the 15^th of his career.
• Hairston is currently on a 19-game hitting streak.
• In the four-game series, Hairston tallied six extra base hits (five doubles and one homerun).
• BLAKE ALEXANDER totaled six hits including three homeruns in the four-game series.
• DOM THORNTON recorded his fifth career run and tenth career hit vs. Mines on Sunday.
• Overall, Thornton hit .692 in the series and matched Hairston with a team-high of nine hits.
• ROBBIE LAMMONS recorded a new single game-high of three hits vs. Mines Sunday.
• Lammons scored his 5^th career run Sunday.
• DYLAN MACKIN recorded his first collegiate run and hit in the eighth inning.

STAT OF THE GAME I
56 – St. Edward's outhit Colorado School of Mines in the series 56-45.
 
THEY SAID IT
Coach Rob Penders on the eighth inning rally…
"It was great to see our guys continue to compete the whole game. When you are down nine runs in the eighth inning, it is much easier to fold up the tents than continue to put quality at bats together. However, our guys did just that and it was rather extraordinary to watch it unfold."
 
Penders on the top performers…
"We had some great individual performances during that comeback, including Blake's [Alexander] homerun and some pinch hitters. And then for Zach [Schindler] to get a two RBI double in the tenth with two outs was a reward for how hard everyone was competing consistently."
 
Penders on the entire series and what it means moving forward…
"Obviously, there were a lot of runs scored on the weekend and we were on the winning end and losing end of big comebacks. That's going to happen a lot when you play in Colorado's elevation. We could possibly play in a regional up here so I want our guys to feel comfortable in this environment. Hopefully we can work on some of our flaws that were exposed by a good Mines team and use this momentum to carry into next week."

WHAT'S NEXT
The Hilltoppers return to Lucian-Hamilton Field four a four-game series vs. Regis beginning Feb. 23 at 1:30 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at GoHilltoppers.com.

Follow St. Edward's Baseball all season long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @SEUBaseball.

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