SAN ANTONIO – In the six previous games The University of Texas of the Permian Basin played against St. Edward's, the Hilltoppers were a thorn in the Falcons' side winning four of those contests. All that was put behind UTPB as the Falcons took a come-from-behind 10-5 win in the opening game of the Heartland Conference Baseball Tournament. 

 

The Falcons, seeded third in the tournament, scored single runs in each of the first three innings but were held scoreless over the next four before exploding for four runs in the eighth and three more in the ninth. St. Edward's nearly matched the Falcons run-for-run in the early going, putting up two runs in the first before scoring single runs in the second and fourth to lead 4-3. The Hilltoppers padded their lead with another run in the seventh giving them a 5-3 edge. 

 

UTPB catcher Austin Wooldridge started the eight inning rally with a solo homer over the left field fence making it 5-4. He finished with a team-high two RBI while picking up a hit and also scored a run. Travis Wilcox kept the rally alive with a one-out walk before Garrett Wolff singled through the left side, moving Wilcox to second. Jeremy Miller, the teams leading hitter, was not in the starting lineup because of an injury, came off the bench to pinch run for Wilcox at second base. Two wild pitches by Matthew Anderson allowed Miller to score the tying run from third and Wolff to advance to third. 

 

Chandler Goode kept the rally alive with an RBI single to left center to plate Wolff, giving UTPB the go-ahead run. Another RBI single by Hugo Hernandez gave the Falcons a 7-5 edge heading into the bottom of the inning.

 

Dylan Giesler, who picked up his first win of the season pitched just a third of the inning, came in relief for starter Felix Cardenas, who tossed 6.2 innings where he allowed three earned runs off six hits while striking out six in the no decision. Daniel Bernal earned his first save of the season after pitching the final two innings, allowing just one hit and striking out two. 

 

Three more runs by the Falcons in the ninth were more than enough for Bernal, who faced seven batters in the save. 

 

UTPB finished with 11 hits and took advantage of six Hilltopper errors which eventually led to six unearned runs. Eight different players picked up at least one hit while Hernandez, Ryan Giacomini and Brantley Miller had two hits each. 

 

The Falcons will now await the winner between top-seeded St. Mary's and fourth seed Texas A&M International at 3:30 p.m. tomorrow.