SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The St. Edward’s softball team took to the diamond for its season-opener against Abilene Christian at the SAISD Spring Sports Complex. The Hilltoppers came away with a 6-2 loss to the Wildcats.

St. Edward’s (0-1) got on the board in the first inning. Brittany Chaney (Houston, Texas/Southern Arkansas) reached on a two-base error to lead off the game. She moved to third base on an infield single by Meagen Bailey (Lake Jackson, Texas/Brazoswood HS) and then came in to score on a perfectly ran double steal.

Abilene Christian (1-1) answered with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Hilltopper starting pitcher Paige Sandahl (Dripping Springs, Texas/Dripping Springs HS) got outs on two of the first three batters, but she would commit an error to prolong the inning. When it was all said and done, the Wildcats had scored three runs off of three hits, a walk and a hit by pitch.

Abilene Christian would tack on two runs in the fifth inning on a pinch-hit two-run home run by Courtney Flanary. They also added another run in the sixth inning on a solo home run from Sara Vaughn.

St. Edward’s would try and rally in the bottom of the seventh as Marissa Thome (Sugar Land, Texas/Lamar Consolidated HS) led off with a double to the gap in right-center field. Thome would score on a groundout by Bailey for the final score.

Thome finished the game, going 2-for-3 with a run scored, while Ally Valdez (San Antonio, Texas/MacArthur HS) also had two hits.

The Hilltoppers will be back in action Friday when they take on Tarleton State at noon and Eastern New Mexico at 2 p.m.

As a member of NCAA Division II and the Heartland Conference, St. Edward’s, has captured 46 conference titles, advanced to the NCAA tournament 48 times and has produced 30 All-Americans and 24 Academic All-Americans since 1999.

Founded by the Congregation of Holy Cross, St. Edward's University is named among the top five "Up-and-Coming Universities" in the Western Region by its academic peers in a 2011 U.S. News & World Report survey. For eight consecutive years St. Edward's has been recognized as one of "America's Best Colleges" by U.S. News & World Report. St. Edward’s has also been named one of “America’s Best Colleges” by Forbes and the Center for College Affordability.

St. Edward's is a private, Catholic, liberal arts university of more than 5,400 students located in Austin, Texas. For more information on St. Edward’s University, visit http://www.stedwards.edu/athletics.