The spring sports season is in full swing at St. Edward’s University, and many of the university’s teams were in action over spring break.

Baseball

The baseball team had two series during spring break, with its first March 12-13 against The University of the Incarnate Word.

This series signaled the final time the Cardinals would travel to the St. Edward’s Lucian-Hamilton Field as a conference opponent, since Incarnate Word will leave the Heartland Conference next year.

The Hilltoppers opened the series to the conference-leading Cardinals with a 3-7 loss. The Hilltoppers were behind 7-5 in the second game of the doubleheader before the game was suspended due to darkness.

The Cardinals were threatening when the game was suspended with the bases loaded and only one out, but the Hilltoppers held the line.

When the game resumed March 13, the Hilltoppers opened up the offense, scoring five runs to take a 10-7 lead. In the ninth inning, St. Edward’s surrendered two runs but kept it together to win 10-9.

In the final game of the series, the Hilltoppers took the lead early and stayed ahead of the Cardinals. The Hilltoppers scored seven runs in an explosive seventh inning, widening the lead 13-5. In the eighth inning, St. Edward’s scored two more runs to mercy rule the Cardinals, ending the game 15-5.

The steady offense continued in a road series with Newman University. The Hilltoppers captured three wins in a four-game series victory over the Jets. In the series, the Hilltoppers put up a staggering 60 runs in just four games.

The Hilltoppers sit comfortably in fourth place in the Heartland Conference, going into a series with the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith March 24.

Softball

After a 4-6 start to the 2010 season, the St. Edward’s softball team has hit their stride, winning nine out of their last 10 games and remaining undefeated in the Heartland Conference.

The women traveled to Eastern New Mexico University for a non-conference match up with the Zias March 17.

The team split the doubleheader with Eastern New Mexico after winning the first game 7-1. In the second game, the Zias were down in the final inning when Eastern New Mexico got a three-run home run to take game two, 6-5.

The softball team continued the road swing playing a doubleheader against Oklahoma Panhandle State University. The Hilltoppers came away with two wins March 18.

The Hilltoppers scored early and often in game one and had the game in hand the whole way, winning 8-0. In the second game of the day, three pitchers combined for a two-hitter to beat the Lady Aggies 8-0.

Women’s Golf

The women’s golf team competed in the Claud Jacobs Intercollegiate Tournament hosted by Texas State University on March 14-15.

St. Edward’s was the only non-Div. I team competing at the tournament. The women finished tied for ninth with McNese State University.

The Hilltoppers were in 10th after the first day, four strokes behind McNese State and six behind Houston Baptist University.

During the second day, the Hilltoppers were able to make up the deficit with McNese State but finished four strokes behind Houston Baptist.

The top two Hilltoppers were freshmen Jacy Benites and Melisa Gonzalez, who tied for 23rd overall. Senior Emily Kvinta finished third for the Hilltoppers. She tied for 48th overall.

The women will play their next tournament, the Grand Canyon Women’s Invitational, in Goodyear, Ariz., April 5-6. They will also play one more tournament before the Heartland Conference Tournament towards the end of April.

Men’s & Women’s Tennis

Both the men’s and women’s tennis teams played four matches over spring break, with both teams going 1-3.

The men’s and women’s tennis teams had an identical schedule with both teams traveling to Las Vegas for three matches and then to Dallas to play regional foe Northwest Missouri State University.

The men’s team, ranked 19th in the nation, faced three tough challenges in Las Vegas.

The first match was March 15 against Barry University, ranked second in the nation. The men got key wins in both doubles and singles but not enough to pull out the victory.

The next day, the men’s team was back in action against the defending NCAA Div. II champions, Armstrong Atlantic University. The Hilltoppers were blanked in this meeting by the Pirates, losing 9-0.

Their last test in Las Vegas was the fifth-ranked Hawaii Pacific University. The Hilltoppers fell 6-3 in this match.

The women opened their play in Las Vegas March 15 against Fresno Pacific University, the top ranked team in NAIA. The women struggled to gain momentum against the Pirates and went down without a match victory 9-0.

For their second match, the women faced Hawaii Pacific University. The Hilltoppers could not find a win in three doubles matches. In singles, St. Edward’s number two,  Audrey Tompkins, defeated Nina Mihova. However, this was the only match victory the Hilltoppers would pick up.

Like the men, the women’s team faced Armstrong Atlantic University, who were top-ranked in Div. II. Likewise, the women could not win a match against Armstrong Atlantic. The teams returned to Texas to face Northwest Missouri State. The men found a tough fight with the 26th-ranked Bearcats. Led by a victory in singles and doubles for both seniors Boris Barrios and Bret Powers, the Hilltoppers notched a 5-3 victory.

The women also found success against the Bearcats with the women only dropping one match out of the first six to capture the win before the remaining doubles matches were finished.