Box Score BELTON, Texas (May 14, 2016) – The last time Oklahoma Christian faced St. Edward's (Texas) pitcher Cameron Stanton, they managed only one run against him in eight innings, but still found a way to win.

The Eagles weren't as fortunate on Saturday afternoon in the championship round of the Heartland Conference baseball tournament. Stanton allowed only four hits in seven innings, stifling OC as the No. 3-ranked Hilltoppers won 6-0 at Red Murff Field.

St. Edward's (43-10) earned the Heartland's automatic bid to next week's NCAA Division II South Central Region tournament and likely ended the season for OC (30-22), which would need to receive an at-large bid into the six-team regional field.

The Eagles entered the week outside the eight-team regional rankings and will learn Sunday if reaching the conference tournament final will vault them into the top six. OC is 8-4 against the top four teams in last week's region rankings, having taken regular-season series against St. Edward's, Lubbock Christian (Texas) and Texas A&M-Kingsville.

"When you get in a tournament like this, I think you have to be good to get here, but you have to have some breaks to maintain it," OC coach Lonny Cobble said. "You need some things to go your way. Early in the year, I think the breaks went our way during that (St. Edward's) series. These last two games here – of course, you know, good teams make their own breaks and they're a good team. … The ball just bounced their way this weekend."

A 7-2 loss to St. Edward's on Friday sent OC into the losers' bracket, but the Eagles rebounded to beat St. Mary's (Texas) 4-1 in an elimination game Friday night, earning a rematch with St. Edward's, although OC would have needed to beat the Hilltoppers twice Saturday to win the tournament.

Stanton (10-1) made sure that didn't happen. He struck out seven batters and combined with relievers Stuart Springer and Juan Cortina on a five-hit shutout. Ben McKenzie and Alex Polston each had two hits for the Eagles, who advanced only two runners as far as third base.

One of those was Polston. After the Hilltoppers scored twice on four hits in the top of the first inning, Polston walked to lead off, stole second base and took third on a groundout by Zac Cobble, but was stranded there when Derek Jones grounded out to the pitcher and Kyle Lacy struck out swinging.

OC senior left-hander Dylon Sturges (1-2), a longtime reliever making his first career pitching start, went a career-long 4 1/3 innings for the Eagles but ran into more trouble in the fifth inning, giving up three runs – one on a single by J.D. Arrowood and another on a ground-rule double by Romeo Cortina, named as the tournament's most valuable player. A third run scored on an error, giving the Hilltoppers a 5-0 lead.

"I thought we were in it, but we kind of let that fifth inning get away from us," Lonny Cobble said. "After that, they could see the finish line and it just got tougher as it went.

"The last time we faced (Stanton), he threw really well against us and we only managed one run off of him then. He was a little bit better today. He kept us off-balance. We didn't have a whole lot of opportunities. When we did, it seemed like everything we hit was kind of right at them."

Polston and McKenzie joined fellow senior Jared Sterling and junior pitcher Dylan Fazekas in representing the Eagles on the all-tournament team.

Despite the loss, Lonny Cobble chose to focus on a big positive – the 2016 Eagles became the first team in the program's history to play for a conference championship, qualifying for the Heartland tournament in their first season of eligibility to do so.

"It's quite an accomplishment," he said. "It says a lot about these seniors for us to get here. We're the first team from Oklahoma Christian to play in a conference championship. I think that's very exciting for the future of our baseball program. I'd like to think we'll be back. You just never know. It's a tough conference but it's a step definitely in the right direction for our program."

Postgame interviews: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHW4-cI6lFY