AUSTIN, Texas – St. Edward's baseball proved resilient against nationally ranked West Texas A&M. The Hilltoppers escaped several precarious situations and bounced back once the Buffaloes broke through, coming from behind for a 7-5 win.
CARLO FIGUEROA was spectacular at the plate, hitting 2-for-2 with two walks, four RBI, and a run scored to lead the Hilltopper offense.
GEORGE HETTRICK was solid in his first start, going 4.1 scoreless innings with four strikeouts and four hits surrendered as the defense bent but didn't break through the first half of the game.
Jovan Camacho opened the game with a double to center field, then advanced to third on a wild pitch. Hettrick induced a fly out to left field, and
JEREMY HILL kept Camacho at third with a strong throw from the outfield.
That throw paid off when Camacho tried to score on a wild pitch, but infielder-turn-catcher
NICHOLAS ANDERSON tracked the ball down and made the diving tag at the plate for the second out.
West Texas A&M kept the pressure on with back-to-back singles, but Hettrick kept his poise and struck out Seth Ochoa to escape unscathed.
Buffaloes' starter Nathan Scott kept St. Edward's hitless through the first two innings, but
JEREMY HILL broke through with a single through the left side out of the ninth spot in the third. A few hitters later,
CARLO FIGUEROA put the Hilltoppers on the board, driving a frozen rope into left-center on an 0-2 pitch for a two-out, two-RBI triple.
St. Edward's defense carried the momentum into the top of the fourth with its first three-up, three-down inning highlighted by two Hettrick strikeouts.
Hettrick surrendered a leadoff walk to Jalen Meyers but bounced back to strikeout Rodric Black before St. Edward's turned to its bullpen to face the top of the lineup for its third time through.
The coaching staff called on
MARLEY BERNAL for a second day after closing Game 1 in the ninth. The right-handed junior transfer induced a flyout to center, then surrendered a check-swing infield single and walked to load the bases for cleanup hitter Dylan Fesperman, who grounded into a fielder's choice to end the inning.
West Texas A&M turned to Andrew Simone out of the bullpen to start the fifth. Simone walked
TREVOR SEBEK, and Figueroa put another run on the board with an RBI double off the fence in left field. After
MARCO BARRERA went down swinging,
CONNOR COX muscled a pitch into shallow left for an RBI single and a 4-0 lead.
St. Edward's gifted West Texas A&M two runners to start the sixth. Bernal hit Ochoa, and the Hilltoppers committed a fielding error on a potential double-play ball. Bernal struck out Glenn Noronha but lost Jalen Meyers on a full count to load the bases with a walk.
Bernal struck out pinch-hitter Ken Hemmer in three pitches, but Jovan Camacho hit a two-RBI single up the middle, and Micklus gave West Texas A&M the lead on a three-run blast to right field for the 5-4 lead.
St. Edward's rallied with two outs to retake the lead in the bottom of the inning.
JEREMY HILL and
TRAVIS CHESTNUT drew back-to-back, two-out walks off closer Tai Phetluang. Then, Sebek drove the ball off Phetluang for the infield single to load the bases. Figueroa drew a walk for his fourth RBI, and Barrera hit a two-RBI single through the right side for the 7-5 lead.
PARKER TENNILL took the mound to start the seventh and delivered a three-up, three-down inning for the save.
DYLAN TATE showcased his speed with a mirror image catch of Hill's highlight from Game 1, and Sebek fielded back-to-back groundouts at third to end the game.
