LAREDO, Texas – For the second consecutive doubleheader, St. Edward's softball followed a close loss with a convincing 11-4 win, splitting its games against Texas A&M International, punctuated by a two-run blast from
ELLA HUTZLER in the second game.
Game 1: Texas A&M International 5, St. Edward's 3
St. Edward's surrendered five runs in the second inning and left six runners stranded, outhitting the Dustdevils 12-8 but falling short 5-3 in the runs category.
SOFIA APONTE put St. Edward's on the board first with an RBI single in the top of the second inning, driving in
LAUREN HOYT, who reached on a bunt.
Texas A&M-International responded in the bottom of the inning.
LISETTE URQUIDEZ walked A. Hernandez and surrendered a single to A. Garcia to start. Urquidez battled for two quick outs on a strikeout and sacrifice bunt, but Fabela and Griego hit back-to-back doubles to score three runs, then Gonzalez hit a two-run blast for the 5-1 lead.
ARIANNA VIDALES,
KATIE DILLON, and
AVI MARTINEZ opened the third with three singles, and
SLOANE HILL drove in a run with a fourth single.
AUDRI CASTILLO and
CIANA RODRIGUEZ singled in the sixth, scoring St. Edward's last run on a double steal with runners in the corners. Martinez hit 3-for-4, and Hill and Rodriguez had two hits each.
Game 2: St. Edward's 11, Texas A&M International 4
St. Edward's softball got stellar production from the top of its lineup to bounce back with an 11-4 win over Texas A& International, putting together 15 hits and taking advantage of five Dustdevil errors.
Vidales and Hutzler reached with back-to-back singles in the first inning, and
MEGAN MORRIS drove in Vidales with an infield single.
St. Edward's defense retired the side in order in the first, then exploded for five runs in the second. Rodriguez opened the inning by reaching on an error, then stole second. Dillon, Martinez, Vidales, and Hutzler reeled off four consecutive singles. Dillon and Vidales reached on bunts, Martinez hit an RBI single to left-center, and Hutzler loaded the bases.
Hill drew a walk to plate another run, Morris delivered a sac fly to left field, and Hoyt ripped an RBI single into left field for the 6-0 lead.
Espinoza responded with a two-RBI double to right field in the second, but the Hilltopper defense battled back to lead three runners stranded, mitigating the damage.
Hill to the two runs back in St. Ed's next at-bat with a two-RBI double to right-center. The Hilltoppers added another run on a TAMIU error for the 9-2 lead.
Gonzalez sparked TAMIU with a leadoff double in the third, and Saldivar drove her in with a sac fly to center field. The Dustdevils scored a fourth run in the fourth on an error.
Hutzler ripped a two-run blast in the fifth for her sixth home run and 21st RBI. She finished a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate with two RBI, three runs, and a walk. Martinez, Vidales, and Hill all had two hits from the one, two, and four spots.
St. Edward's improves to 19-15 with a 13-11 conference record, good for sixth in the standings. The Hilltoppers will host TWU on Friday, followed by top-ranked UT Tyler on Sunday.
