FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
AUSTIN, Texas – The St. Edward’s baseball team battled intense wind gusts during a doubleheader split with Newman Saturday afternoon at Lucian-Hamilton Field. The Hilltoppers fell in game one, 3-2, and won the second contest, 11-0.
St. Edward’s (20-12, 18-9 HC) got on the board first in the top of the third inning. Senior Mike Hancock led off the inning with a sharp double down the left field line that gave St. Edward’s their first runner in scoring position. Fellow senior Robert Hays then laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to the third baseman that advanced Hancock to third. Senior shortstop Jeremy Houser then drove in the run with a grounder to third.
Newman (17-13, 15-12 HC) responded in the bottom of the fifth with their own lead off hit as Brandon Cox singled through the left side. The Hilltopper infield then mishandled the sacrifice bunt by Thomas Robulack and both Cox and Robulack ended up on base. A pass ball advanced Cox to third base, allowing him to come around and score on a sacrifice fly off of the bat of catcher Todd Bierman.
Drew Cross gave the Hilltoppers the lead in the sixth inning. Cross drove in Houser with a single to left field. This gave St. Edward’s a 2-1 lead heading into the seventh inning.
The Hilltopper lead would not hold up though. The Jets came out and scored two runs in the top of the seventh. They held St. Edward’s scoreless in the bottom half of the inning and won the game, 3-2.
Cross led the way for the Hilltoppers, going 1-3 with an RBI. Houser drove in a run and scored a run.
On the mound for St. Edward’s, Tim Laine took a tough-luck no decision. Laine worked five strong innings, giving up only one run on two hits. He struck out four Jets.
In game two, the Hilltoppers came out swinging. They scored six runs in the first inning. Center fielder Dylan Schuch led off with a single and came around to score. He also had a two-run single later in the inning. Designated hitter Daniel Rufini and right fielder Mike Hancock each had run producing hits in the inning as well.
St. Edward’s tacked on two more runs in the second inning. Hancock had an RBI triple in the inning and came around to score on a sacrifice fly from catcher Drew Kimball.
The Hilltoppers scored again in the fifth inning. Schuch led off the inning with a single, ended up stealing third, and then scored on a sacrifice fly from Rufini. A sacrifice fly off of the bat of Hays led to another run in the sixth inning.
Another run crossed home plate for the Hilltoppers in the seventh inning. Rufini scored Schuch on a groundout to second base. This did it for the Hilltoppers. Thanks to the mercy rule they claimed victory, 11-0.
Schuch paced the offense in game two. He went 4-5 with two runs batted in, three runs scored, and two stolen bases. Hancock was 3-4 with two RBI’s and three runs scored. Rufini collected two hits and three runs batted in.
On the mound, Bret Friemel (6-2) worked six shutout innings, giving up only three hits and striking out seven Jet hitters.
The Hilltoppers will be back in action Sunday afternoon to conclude this weekend series with Newman. First pitch is set for 12 p.m. at Lucian-Hamilton Field.
