AUSTIN, Texas – MEGAN MORRIS, ELLA HUTZLER, and LAUREN HOYT combined to hit 14-for-20, and St. Edward's softball got solid performances from its pitching staff and spectacular defense to sweep St. Mary's in the Hilltoppers' home doubleheader winning the season series 3-1. 
 
Game 1: St. Edward's 8, St. Mary's 7
St. Edward's and St. Mary's entered the game in a three-way tie with Eastern New Mexico for the fifth spot in the Lone Star Conference standings, and the Hilltoppers and Rattlers went back and forth in an evenly matched Battle of the Saints. 
 
Centerfielder SOFIA APONTE twice saved St. Edward's with her arm in the top of the second. Jadyn Abrego and Izabella Valdez opened the inning with a single and double back-to-back, putting both in scoring positions with no outs. 
 
Raegan Tennill and Lauryn Ramos flied out deep center, with Aponte twice rocketing perfect throws to the plate to deter Abrego from tagging up, leaving both Rattlers stranded in a scoreless inning. 
 
KATIE DILLON bunted for a leadoff single in the bottom of the third, then moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and groundout from AVI MARTINEZ and Ariana Vidales, scoring on ELLA HUTZLER's RBI single to center field. After SLOANE HILL drew a walk, MEGAN MORRIS delivered the RBI single to right field for the 2-0 lead. 
 
St. Mary's broke through against St. Edward's starter, KYLEN PADGETT, for five runs in the fourth. Padgett hit Abrego, then surrendered a double to Valdez and walked Tennill to load the bases. 
 
Padgett recovered to get Ramos to ground into a fielder's choice to CIANA RODRIGUEZ at third with the out at home. Then, Padget struck out a pinch-hitting AJ Sanchez, putting the Hilltoppers to escape again. 
 
Unfortunately, the Rattlers reeled off three consecutive singles, scoring four runs, followed by an error for a fifth, then Valdez's RBI single for a 6-2 lead, with Aponte saving St. Edward's once more by throwing Gonzales out at home on the play. 
 
Rodriguez sparked St. EDward's with a leadoff single up the middle in the bottom of the inning, then advanced on a wild pitch. Aponte singled through the left side, and Gonzales bobbled the ball off the bounce in left field, allowing Rodriguez to score. 
 
Martinez drew a walk between two outs from Dillon and Vidales, and Hutzler ripped an RBI single up the middle. Hill followed with a high fly ball dropped by St. Mary's right fielder, scoring Martinez, and Morris ended the four-run inning with an RBI single to shallow center. 
 
Ramos hit a solo blast in the fifth to put St. Mary's back on top, and the Rattlers threatened to blow the game open with runners on second and third with one out in the sixth. However, St. Edward's caught the Rattlers in a double rundown double play on Abrego's grounder to Rodriguez, getting the leadoff runner trying to score and the second Rattler trying to reach third, ending the inning scoreless. 
 
Hutzler hit a leadoff double in the sixth, Morris singled to center, and Hoyt pulled an RBI single down the left-field line to tie the game. Aponte, who saved the Hilltoppers thrice with her arm on defense, ripped the game-winning run with an RBI single to right field. 
 
MADDIE AGUILAR came out of the bullpen to start the seventh and retired three of four to earn the save. 
 
Game 2: St. Edward's 4, St. Mary's 1
LISETTE URQUIDEZ went all seven innings, carrying a shutout until the seventh, and Morris and Hoyt each hit 2-for-3 in St. Edward's 4-1 to complete the doubleheader sweep. 
 
St. Mary's loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the second, but KATIE DILLON made a spectacular catch on Emily Ayala's line drive to right field, ending the inning and saving at least two runs. The Rattlers loaded the bases with two outs again in the third inning but grounded out to Morris at shortstop to remain scoreless. 
 
St. Edward's loaded the bases with walks drawn by Dillon and Vidales and a single from Hutzler, scoring on Hill's sacrifice fly to right field. Vidales scored on a wild pitch, then Morris delivered an RBI single to left field for the 3-0 lead. 
 
An error on a sacrifice bunt attempt gave St. Edward's an extra out, and Vidales capitalized with a slap-hitting single into left field for the insurance run. 
 
Urquidez and the Hilltopper defense retired the next six hitters in order before De la Rosa hit a leadoff triple to right-center to open the seventh. De la Rosa scored on Ayala's sac fly to right field, but Gonzales grounded out to third, and Abrego flied out to left to end the game. 
 
In two games, Morris hit 6-for-7 with three RBI and a run scored. Hoyt was 4-for-6 with an RBI, and Hutzler hit 4-for-7 with two RBI and three runs scored. 
 
St. Edward's improves to 24-18 with an 18-14 conference record, taking sole possession of fifth place in the conference standings. Eastern New Mexico will face Western New Mexico in a doubleheader tomorrow with an opportunity to match St. Edward's. 
 
The Hilltoppers will travel to face no. 1 UT Tyler and Texas Woman's University next week.