HAMPTON — The night didn’t start as Jordan Miller would have liked it, but it did finish with a victory.

The St. Edmond baseball team (12-8 overall) lost the opener of a North Central Conference doubleheader with Hampton-Dumont/CAL (5-13), 8-6.

The Gaels bounced back with an 8-1 victory in the nightcap.

In the second contest the Gaels got a strong performance from the top of their lineup, as the top five hitters in their lineup combined for five hits.

“When the top of the lineup, even one through six is hitting, it’s great for us,” Miller said. “They put their foot down and had the barrel down with a good approach.”

The big hits came from lead off Kinnick Henning and clean up hitter Coltin Fevold. Both Henning and Fevold had home runs. Henning drove in two runs and scored once. Fevold had two RBI and a run as well.

Grant Galles had two hits and two runs, while Blake Bartlett scored twice and drove in one. Julian Blanco, and Jack McElroy drove in runs.

McElroy earned the win on the mound, going three innings, striking out three and allowing three hits and zero earned runs.

Jacob Nieland went the final four innings, allowing three hits with two strikeouts.

“Jack is a competitor,” Miller said. “He kept us in it and Jacob came in to close it down. It was great to see Jacob have a good game. He’s had some bad bounces, but it was great to see him pound the zone.”

In the opener the Bulldogs had a five run second inning, putting the Gaels behind. St. Edmond would tie the contest, but HDC came back for the win.

Galles had two hits and drove in two runs. Fevold had a double and two RBI, while Blanco drove in two runs and Garrett Royster had two hits.

The Gaels are back in action on Thursday at Bishop Garrigan.