LAREDO, Texas – St. Edward's baseball split its Saturday doubleheader against Texas A&M International, bouncing back from an early defeat with a decisive victory to take a 2-1 series lead over the Dustdevils.
Game 1: Texas A&M International 9, St. Edward's 8
Texas A&M International hit four home runs in the early game, most notably a walk-off solo blast in the eighth inning to deliver a 9-8 victory for the Dustdevils.
Abiam Medina set the tone for TAMIU with a three-run home run in the first inning, followed immediately by a home run from Omar Cervantes.
TY MURRAY responded with an RBI single through the left side in the bottom of the inning, driving in
DILLON FLORES, who doubled to right field.
St. Edward's scored four more runs in the top of the third inning to take a 5-4 lead.
WESTON SYMES,
TREVOR SEBEK, and
DAVIS DREWEK hit three consecutive singles to start the inning, with Drewek driving in Symes.
LANCE LITTLE followed with a walk to load the bases, Flores drew another to plate a run, and Murray ended the scoring run with a two-RBI single through the right side.
Little extended the advantage with a leadoff home run in the fifth, but Texas A&M International got the run back in the bottom of the inning when Joseph Cruz grounded into a double play with bases loaded. Nick Chavez then tied the game with a home run in the bottom of the sixth.
St. Edward's retook the lead in the seventh with a two-run home run from Little, but three walks, a wild pitch, and an RBI single from Joey Coolbaugh tied the game. After St. Edward's left two stranded in the eighth, Ariben Gutierrez hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the inning.
Game 2: St. Edward's 15, Texas A&M International 1
JAKUB RAYFIELD produced another solid start on the mound, and St. Edward's baseball hit three home runs to bounce back with a decisive 15-1 victory.
Sebek opened the game with a double to left field, and Drewek homered to give St. Edward's a 2-0 lead. Rayfield struck out two in the bottom of the inning to leave two stranded, and the Hilltoppers scored off an error on a failed pickoff attempt, then a Drewek RBI single for the 4-0 lead.
Rayfield retired the next six hitters in order, striking out two in the second, and Sebek hit an RBI double in the fourth, then scored on a wild pitch to add two more runs.
Murray hit a two-run blast in the fifth, followed a few hitters later by Little's two-RBI single through the left side to go up 10-0.
St. Edward's scored three runs on a groundout and two wild pitches in the sixth, then two more on a home run from Flores in the same inning. Texas A&M International scored its only run of the game in the sixth when Antonio Buentello grounded into a double play with bases loaded.
Rayfield went five scoreless innings and struck out five with no walks in the win. Sebek, Drewek, and Little combined to hit 6-for-11 with seven RBIs and five runs scored from the top of the lineup.
St. Edward's improves to 23-26 with a 23-24 conference record. The Hilltoppers are sixth in the LSC standings. The top eight teams will go to the conference tournament, and tomorrow's noon game will give them an opportunity to clinch a playoff berth.
