The St. Edward’s University baseball team, currently fourth in the Heartland Conference, took on the University of Texas at Permian Basin, who are third in conference. In a four-game series, the Hilltoppers swept UTPB with aggressive hitting and pitching.

“Any time you have a team like UTPB come into town and you take all four games from them, you know you are playing the game like it should be played,” senior catcher Drew Kimball said.

The Hilltoppers (27-17, 23-15 HC) began the series with a double-header on April 9. Junior Tim Laine set the tone with strong pitching that would continue throughout the weekend. Allowing only two hits in the first four innings, Laine picked up his first victory.

On the offensive end, constant hitting by the Hilltoppers allowed for five runs by the fifth inning, including a first career homerun by freshman Tim Redden. Fans could see the team’s excitement and unity as the team ran onto the field to cheer on Redden as he crossed home plate.

Junior Dustin Johnson, allowing only one hit, picked up his first save as he closed the shutout, 5-0 for St. Edward’s.

In the second game of the double-header, senior Chandler Mosser didn’t waste any time in getting runs on the board as he hit a home run off the first pitch of the inning. The Falcons were not going to give it to the Hilltoppers that easily. They came back to get a lead of 2-1 in the fourth inning.

After junior Adam Shank’s fourth double of the afternoon, the Hilltoppers took the lead again in the fifth inning. Finally, the Hilltoppers secured their lead in the sixth inning with a double by senior Jeremy Houser and a triple by freshman Taylor Johnson, who ended up stealing home soon after. The final run came from a sacrifice fly by senior Dexter Moreno to bring Redden home.

Senior closing pitcher Jonathan Burns and Kimball came in at the top of the 7th to close the game at 6-2. Burns struck out three batters in a row picking up his third save of the season. Sophomore Matthew Anderson (2-1) walked away with the win by allowing only one hit and no runs.

On April 10, UTPB brought a tougher offense, but it was not enough to split the series. The Hilltoppers successfully continued their fight to sweep the Falcons.

In the first inning, Moreno continued the team’s habit of scoring early in the game with his first of three home runs and seven RBIs of the afternoon. The Falcons followed in the second inning with a home run to tie the game. In the same inning, Houser hit a home run to left field to take back the lead.

The third inning brought a run by Redden and Moreno’s second home run, bringing the score to 6-1.

The Falcons tried to come back by scoring four more runs, but it wasn’t enough to take the lead. The Hilltoppers scored one more run off junior Eric Morgan’s homerun in the sixth inning before Burns and Kimball closed the game out at 7-5. Sophomore starting pitcher Jeffery Rohrbach (5-0) picked up the win.

In the final game of the series, the Hilltoppers again immediately scored in the first inning on a RBI-single by senior Adam Wolotira.

It wasn’t until four runs in the fourth inning by the Falcons, including back-to-back home runs, that the Hilltoppers took the lead back 6-4.

In the sixth inning, the Falcons tied the game at 6-6, but the Hilltoppers immediately took the lead back again when Moreno drove in two runs with his third home run of the afternoon and tenth home run of the season.

Burns and Kimball ended the game in the top of the seventh with a 1-2-3 inning. Relief pitcher Dustin Johnson (3-2) picked up the win and Burns, the save.

The Hilltoppers will play another four-game series April 16-17 against Oklahoma Panhandle State in Goodwell, Ok.

“The best thing for us is to stay focused on our goal of winning as many games as possible and playing hard each and every day,” Kimball said.