The UTPB baseball team played two different games against visiting St. Edward’s on Saturday.
In the end, it was the same unfortunate result for the Falcons.
The Hilltoppers, ranked 19th in the nation, routed UTPB in the first game, 14-5, and then rallied late in the second game for a 7-6 victory in 12 innings in Lone Star Conference play at Roden Field.
St. Edward’s (15-5, 13-5) has won the first three games of the series, which will conclude at noon Sunday at Roden Field.
UTPB dropped to 9-14, 9-14.
The first game was a throwaway, literally, for the Falcons as they walked 13 Hilltoppers, hit two others with pitches and committed two balks to move runners around the bases.
UTPB used five pitchers in the seven-inning contest, with starter Austin Parks (0-1) absorbing the loss after allowing four runs in 1.1 innings of work.
St. Edward’s put pressure on UTPB from the outset of the afternoon, scoring once in the first inning of Game 1 and adding three more in the second.
The Falcons responded with a run of their own in the second, but the Hilltoppers scored four runs in the fourth and six in the sixth to seal the outcome.
UTPB opened the second game aggressively, with starter Grant Harvill setting down St. Edward’s in order in the first.
Mason Hamlin started a Falcons’ rally in the bottom of the inning with a leadoff double, followed by a walk to Carson Johnson.
Both runners moved up 90 feet on a botched pickoff attempt of Hamlin as second and when Cooper Ciesielski walked, UTPB had the bases loaded with no outs.
Hamlin raced home with the first run of the inning on a passed ball, with Johnson and Ciesielski both advancing.
Johnson scored on a ground ball out, with Ciesielski following suit on another infield out.
Harvill kept the Hilltoppers off the scoreboard the next three innings and the Falcons added two more runs in the third for a 5-0 lead.
That changed in the fifth inning.
St. Edward’s Josh Graham led off the inning with a double and was still there after back-to-back strikeouts by Harvill.
But Matthew Giles coaxed a walk from the Falcon’s left-hander and Trevor Sebek singled to left to drive home Graham.
Lance Little then hammered a line drive that started toward left-center field and hooked, with the help of a 20-mph breeze, around the foul pole for a three-run home run.
That cut the Hilltoppers’ deficit to one (5-4) and with solo runs in the sixth and seventh, they were prepared to sweep in regulation.
The Falcons then fashioned a rally of their own with Jay DeSoto leading off the bottom of the seventh in a double.
He was replaced by pinch runner Brandon Sheets, who promptly scored on pinch-hitter Stephen MacKenzie’s double to left.
The Falcons, however, were unable to push another run across for the victory, despite loading the bases with two outs.
That would cost UTPB as St. Edward’s manufactured a run in the top of the 12th with a hit batter, stolen base, infield single and squeeze bunt for the winning run.
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