AUSTIN, Texas – Murphy's Law met DILLON FLORES for Texas A&M-Kingsville, and the St. Edward's Hilltoppers baseball team defeated the Javelinas 18-1 to win the season-opening series three games to one. 
 
Texas A&M-Kingsville struck first for the fourth time in as many games, getting an RBI single up the middle from Kyle Perales in the top of the first. 
 
After that, everything that could go wrong for Texas A&M-Kingsville did. The Javelinas committed five errors, surrendering 13 hits with eight walks and two hit batters in the seven-inning, mercy rule loss. 
 
Flores inflicted most of the damage. St. Edward's starting catcher made the Hilltoppers' first home run of the season a grand one, launching an opposite-field blast into the protective netting behind the right-field fence with bases loaded for the 4-1 lead. St. Edward's added a fifth run in the inning on an error. 
 
Starting pitcher JACK GRANACK struck out the side in the second, catching the first two hitters looking, and LANCE LITTLE belted his first home run of the season in the bottom of the inning. 
 
Texas A&M-Kingsville's Karson Shepard replaced starting pitcher Brian Buchanan to start the third and surrendered a one-out single to WESTON SYMES, walked TREVOR SEBEK and CONNOR COX back-to-back, plunked Little for one score, then walked DAVIS DREWEK for another. 
 
Cole Payne replaced Shepard, and Flores greeted the junior reliever with a bases-clearing, three-RBI double to left center, totaling seven RBI with his first two hits. 
 
With a significant 11-1 lead, St. Edward's turned to its bullpen to start the fourth, giving the ball to BEN SMEDSHAMMER to start the fourth. Smedshammer retired the side in order and went two complete innings to pick up his second win out of the bullpen in two appearances. He retired six of the eight hitters he faced, surrendering two hits with two strikeouts and no walks. 
 
Payne loaded the bases in the fourth, hitting Hunter Connor and Sebek and surrendering a single to Symes. Cox drove Conner in with an RBI single up the middle, and the Javelinas unraveled, committing back-to-back errors to score two runs. Flores grounded into a double play but scored Cox in the process for a 15-1 lead. 
 
Symes and Cox drove in a run each in the fifth, notching RBI on a fielder's choice and groundout to the pitcher. MATT JOHNSON pinch hit for JOEL SHEA in the sixth and drove in DIEGO SOLIS for the game's final run. 
 
GEORGE HETTRICK pitched the final two innings and retired all six batters faced in order, ending the game in seven innings. 
 
St. Edward's improves to 3-1 with a 3-1 conference record. The Hilltoppers will remain home this week, stepping out of conference but staying in the region with a pair of games against Colorado State University-Pueblo on Friday and Saturday.