AUSTIN, Texas - The Newman baseball team notched its first win of the 2012 season in a 3-1 win over St. Edward's Saturday afternoon at Lucian-Hamilton Field in Austin, Texas. The win salvaged a doubleheader split after the Hilltoppers picked up a 4-1 win in the series opener.

Game 1: St. Edward's 4, Newman 1
Newman (0-4, 0-4 Heartland) drew first blood in Saturday's series opener. After reaching on a fielder's choice as the second batter of the game, Terrell Brown moved to second on a wild pitch, then scored on David Longmore's single to centerfield. After the first at-bat, the Jets held a 1-0 advantage.

Three innings later, St. Edward's (2-2, 2-1 Heartland) finally responded, and played small-ball to do so. After putting a runner on base via error, the Hilltoppers notched a bunt-single and a sacrifice bunt before plating their first runner on a ground-out to shortstop. After four innings, the game was tied at 1-1.

The Hilltoppers added three more runs in the fifth, chasing Newman starter Kyle Burkhardt out of the game with three runs on four hits and an error to take a 4-1 lead. Griffin Campbell shut down the Hilltoppers in order in relief of Burkhardt, but the Newman offense could only muster two hits over the final two innings, and fell by the 4-1 final score.

Five different Jets notched hits in the game. On the mound, Burkhardt allowed four runs (two earned) on nine hits while walking two and recording two strikeouts. He was tagged with the loss, and falls to 0-1 on the season.

Game 2: Newman 3, St. Edward's 1
Newman (1-4, 1-4 Heartland) did all its damage in the second inning. Corey Cowan opened the inning with a double down the left-field line, then moved to third on a Jerrod Flax single to left. Flax then stole second, giving the Jets a pair of runners in scoring position. Cowan plated the first run of the game on a throwing error from the St. Edward's (2-3, 2-2 Heartland) catcher. Dylan Monroe made his way on base with a four-pitch walk, then stole second on a double-steal that moved Flax to third. A fielding error at shortstop loaded the bases for Newman, and Terrell Brown cashed in. Brown's double to left field pushed Flax and Monroe across the plate, and gave the Jets a 3-0 lead after two innings.

The Hilltoppers plated their only run in the third, but that was the only threat SEU posed in the game. Newman starter Brandon Droge was nearly untouchable throughout the game, surrendering just one earned run on three hits in 8.1 innings of work. Droge walked four, but struckout seven while improving to 1-1 on the season. Gage Daniels pitched the final two outs of the game without incident, and picked up his first save of the season.

Cowan led the Jets offensively, finishing with a two-for-four effort at the plate with a run scored.

With Saturday's split, the Jets improve to 1-4 on the season, and 1-4 in Heartland Conference play. The same two teams will meet once again Sunday afternoon in the rubber match of the series.