The St. Edward's Hilltoppers baseball team represents St. Edward's University in NCAA Division II college baseball. The hilltoppers have competed in the Lone Star Conference since 2019. The Hilltoppers play home games at Lucian-Hamilton Field. The team won six consecutive conference championships in the Heartland Conference from 2013 to 2018.

History Early history While the true date of origin for the team is unknown, the earliest confirmed season of play was during the 1902 season under head coach Billy Disch. The team was disbanded and reinstated several times during its early history, notably disbanding from 1909 to 1920 and from 1931 to 1947. From its formation until 1928 the team remained independent and unaffiliated with any athletic conference. Following this period, they were members of the Texas Conference from 1928 until 1952. In the early history of the program the baseball team remained comparatively undistinguished with no conference tournament or regular season championships during this time.

Present era The team left the Texas conference following the 1952 season to join the Big State Conference during Brother Folen's tenure as head coach. It switched to the Heart of Texas conference in 1987, then again to the Heartland Conference in 1999 where the team won six consecutive conference tournament championships and four regular season championships between the years of 2013 and 2018 under head coach Rob Penders. The team also made 6 NCAA Division II tournament appearances during this same time period. However, in 2021 Penders was fired on allegations of racism against players following which Penders filed a bias lawsuit against the university. In 2024, Penders dropped the suit and settled with the university following two independent investigations that concluded he did not discriminate against two players named in the original allegations.

Stadium The Hilltoppers play at Lucian-Hamilton Field, named in honor of former athletic director Lucian Blersch and former baseball coach Tom Hamilton.

Head coaches Years Coach Record Win % 1902–1908 Billy Disch 50–25–3 .660 1921 William Gardner 7–7 .500 1922–1929 Jack Meagher 34–37 .479 1930 Al Sarafiney 0–1 .000 1948–1954 Brother Folen 47–41–2 .533 1955–1956 Ed NorrisOverall record shown reflects cumulative total across all tenures. 56–60 .483 1960 Ed Norris 56–60 .483 1976–1977 Ed Norris 56–60 .483 1957 Tom McGlaughlin 7–7 .500 1958–1959 Brother Lucian Blersch 11–13 .458 1961–1973 Tom Hamilton 162–182–2 .471 1974–1975 Ray Schmotzer 29–40 .420 1978–1985 John KnorrOverall record shown reflects cumulative total across all tenures. 317–198 .616 1986–1990 James Keller 128–148–2 .464 1991–1992 John Knorr 317–198 .616 1993–1994 Jack Lala 34–59–1 .367 1995–1998 Bud Mader 84–107 .440 1999–2002 Gene Salazar 93–101–1 .479 2003–2006 Jeremy Farber 121–97 .555 2007–2021 Rob Penders 507–276 .647 2022–2023 Bryan Faulds 72–43 .626 2024–present Ryan Femath 60–52 .536

Year-by-year results Year Coach Record Conference Record Percent Notes 1902 Billy Disch 4–2 .667 1903 3–0 1.000 1904 17–4 .810 1905 7–7 .500 1906 5–9 .357 1907 9–2 .818 1908 5–1–3 .722 No team data from 1909 through 1920 1921 William Gardner 7–7 .500 1922 Jack Meagher 7–7 .500 1923 4–8 .333 No team data from 1924 through 1925 1926 8–10 .444 1927 1928 8–7 5–3 .533 1929 7–5 .583 1930 Al Sarafiney 0–1 .000 No team data from 1931 through 1947 1948 Brother Folen 10–9–1 .525 1950 8–5–1 .607 1951 10–6 .625 1952 8–4 6–1 .667 1953 9–6 4–2 .600 1954 2–11 1–5 .354 1955 Ed Norris 6–8 2–6 .429 1956 10–5 4–4 .667 1957 Tom McGlaughlin 7–7 1–5 .500 1958 Lucien Blersch 5–8 1–6 .385 1959 6–5 0–3 .546 1960 Ed Norris 16–8 8–3 .667 1961 Tom Hamilton 10–9 3–7 .526 1962 9–10 4–4 .474 1963 4–11 1–7 .267 1964 8–15 3–3 .348 1965 10–14 3–5 .417 1966 17–12 5–2 .586 1967 9–11 4–3 .450 1968 6–14 5–4 .300 1969 19–14 8–4 .576 1970 10–16 3–7 .385 1971 19–19–1 6–4 .500 1972 23–17–1 7–2 .573 1973 18–20 7–3 .474 1974 Ray Schmotzer 15–19 7–5 .441 1975 14–21 3–9 .400 1976 Ed Norris 8–23 4–7 .258 1977 16–16 3–8 .500 1978 John Knorr 31–18 6–9 .633 1979 33–17 8–6 .660 1980 35–22 11–6 .614 1981 34–17 9–8 .667 1982 32–26 7–9 .552 1983 29–24 8–7 .547 1984 40–13 9–6 .755 1985 30–17 3–9 .638 1986 James Keller 38–31 9–6 .551 1987 31–31–1 9–6 .500 1988 21–29–1 7–8 .422 1989 6–40 3–12 .130 1990 James Keller 32–17 10–5 .653 1991 John Knorr 27–22 2–10 .551 1992 26–22 4–11 .542 1993 Jack Lala 17–28–1 4–11 .380 1994 17–31 4–11 .354 1995 Bud Mader 20–28 4–17 .417 1996 21–25 10–11 .466 1997 31–20 15–9 .617 1998 12–34 2–19 .261 1999 Gene Salazar 22–25 8–12 .468 2000 26–23 .531 2001 28–24 .539 2002 17–29–1 .372 2003 Jeremy Farber 25–31 .446 2004 25–28 6–10 .472 2005 35–18 28–12 .660 2006 36–20 29–11 .643 2007 Rob Penders 43–15 31–9 .741 2008 40–16 38–11 .714 2009 34–22 31–18 .607 2010 35–22 29–18 .614 2011 27–24 19–11 .529 2012 37–16 26–9 .698 2013 44–18 24–12 .710 2014 39–16 23–7 .709 2015 40–13 22–5 .755 2016 46–12 23–4 .793 2017 33–20 14–10 .623 2018 34–21 18–10 .618 2019 27–27 11–10 .500 2020 11–11 11–11 .500 2021 17–23 14–18 .425 2022 Bryan Faulds 32–25 27–21 .561 2023 40–17 34–13 .702 2024 Ryan Femath 23–29 23–25 .442 2025 37–23 31–17 .617

First-team All-Americans Name Year Selectors Roger Metzger 1969 Henry Thames 1982 Greg Trlicek 1983 Patrick Colgan 2007 Stephen Johnson 2012 NCBWA, ABCA, Daktronics Brannon Easterling 2014 ABCA, NCBWA Wes Koenig 2014 ABCA, Daktronics, NCBWA J.D. Arrowood 2016 ABCA Connor Cox 2025 NCBWA

Players in the MLB draft Year Name Round Team 1965 George Gazegorek 70th Baltimore Orioles 1969 Roger Metzger 1st Chicago Cubs 1972 Anton Rosentritt 14th Atlanta Braves 1981 Bubba Jennings 10th Cincinnati Reds Myron Gilmore 18th Toronto Blue Jays 1987 Todd Van Horn 15th Texas Rangers 1997 Todd Naff 30th San Diego Padres 2005 Jesse Bogan Ind. Frontier League Stephen Puhl 17th New York Mets 2006 Logan Wood Ind. American Association Stephen Puhl 17th New York Mets 2008 Bradley Goldsmith Ind. American Association 2010 Jonathan Burns 26th Atlanta Braves 2012 Tyler Harris Ind. American Association Casey Russell Ind. American Association Stephen Johnson 6th San Francisco Giants 2013 Taylor Johnson 40th Detroit Tigers 2014 Brannon Easterling 20th Chicago White Sox Ransom LaLonde Ind. Frontier League 2015 J.D. Arrowood 40th Cincinnati Reds 2016 Cameron Stanton 30th Atlanta Braves Joseph Olson FA Tampa Bay Rays 2017 Hunter Courson Ind. American Association Romeo Cortina Ind. Frontier League Brandon Boone 39th Miami Marlins Cam Hatch Ind. Pacific Association 2018 Tanner Lawson 21st Atlanta Braves Jake Davis Ind. Frontier League 2021 Blake Holub 15th Detroit Tigers

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