AUSTIN – UAFS scored 10 runs in the fifth inning and held off St. Edward's the rest of the way to collect a 10-6 victory in the Heartland Conference contest on Friday at Lucian-Hamilton Field.

The Hilltoppers (16-19, 4-5 HC) jumped out to a 3-0 advantage through two innings and appeared to control the momentum. However, after a pair of scoreless frames, St. Edward's ran into trouble in the fifth.

The Lions (17-14, 4-5 HC) sent 14 batters to the plate in the decisive inning that featured four Hilltopper pitchers.

St. Edward's picked up three runs in the bottom of the stanza, as ROBBIE LAMMONS tallied an RBI singles and MORGAN ALLEN had a two-run triple.

The 'Toppers threatened in the eighth after loading the bases. However, UAFS reliever Foster Pace was able to work out of the jam.

Pace pitched 4.1 scoreless innings to earn his first save of the season. Cooper Van Kooten (2-2) received the victory after hurling 3.2 frames in relief. The righty allowed six hits and three runs while striking out three.

Meanwhile, NATHAN MEDRANO (1-4) suffered the loss for St. Edward's. Medrano cruised through the first four innings, but was unable to make it out of the fifth, giving up eight hits and six runs along the way.

The Hilltoppers collected 10 hits in the series finale. Allen, BLAKE HOLUB and ZACH SHEPHERD posted two hits apiece. Allen also had two RBIs, while Holub drove in one run.

St. Edward's will begin a five-game road trip on Tuesday, April 9, with a stop at Angelo State. The non-conference tilt is slated to begin at 6:30 p.m. in San Angelo.