The St. Edward’s softball team hit four home runs on its way to a series sweep of St. Mary’s with a 9-1, run-rule victory Monday afternoon at Diane Daniels Field. The Hilltoppers have now won five games in a row. This, coupled with Incarnate Word sweeping Texas A&M-International, puts St. Edward’s back into first place in the Heartland Conference.
St. Edward’s (29-17, 14-3 HC) jumped on Rattler starting pitcher Taryn Munoz in the first inning. Lisa Paul (Senior, Lake Jackson, Texas) had a one-out, two-run home run and Stacy Giles (Junior, Spring, Texas) added an absolute moon shot to centerfield to put the Hilltoppers in front 3-0 after the first frame.
In the third inning, it was Paul again with another two-run homer to push the lead to 5-0. Courtney Lavender (Junior, Houston, Texas) make it 6-0, when she followed with a home run of her own.
A bases loaded walk to Jenny Varteressian (Sophomore, Austin, Texas) in the fifth inning made the score, 7-0.
St. Mary’s (28-19, 13-5 HC) finally got on the scoreboard in the sixth inning with a solo home run from catcher Christina Rodriguez to cut the Hilltopper lead to 7-1.
However, St. Edward’s plated two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning for the run-rule victory, 9-1. Lavender had an RBI-single and Giles ended it with a squeeze-bunt RBI.
Paige Sandahl (Sophomore, Dripping Springs, Texas) won her third-straight game on the mound, allowing one run on five hits, while striking out six batters in six innings of work.
The Hilltoppers will be back in action Tuesday when they travel to take on Abilene Christian. First-pitch is set for 5 p.m. in Abilene. Live audio is available on the Hilltopper Athletic