Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
Brownwood, TX – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor baseball team rode a record-breaking pitching performance to a game one victory and then held on in a pitcher's duel in game two to post a doubleheader sweep of Howard Payne University Monday afternoon in Brownwood. The Cru won game one 10-1 and took game two by a 7-2 score to claim a sweep of the three-game series. UMHB improves to 20-16 overall and 11-7 in American Southwest Conference play with the two victories, HPU falls to 15-20 overall and 4-14 in the ASC with the two losses.
The Cru grabbed a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning of game one and that would be more than enough offense for UMHB pitcher
Jared Hopper in a 10-1 win.
Seth Lynn was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to open the scoring and
Morgan Sloan added a three-run triple to give the Cru the first-inning lead.
Joseph Villegas stole home on the front end of a double steal in the top of the second to make it 5-0 UMHB. A sacrifice fly would cut it to 5-1 in the bottom of the second, but the Cru added a run on a double play in the top of the third to take a 6-1 lead. UMHB would add three more runs on a two-run error and a run-scoring double play to make it 9-1 in the top of the fourth.
Chris Joshlin's RBI single in the top of the sixth inning would make it 10-1 Cru. Hopper took a no-hitter into the bottom of the fifth inning before Jordan Hammontree broke it up with a single. Hopper also struck out six to break the UMHB career strikeout record of 210 held by R.B. Garza. Hopper finished the game with 212 strikeouts in his career and he broke the record with a strikeout of Carlton Brown in the bottom of the fifth. He walked two and allowed just one hit and one run in five innings to raise his record to 6-2 on the season.
David Keil finished with two innings of one-hit relief for UMHB. White was 3-3 for the Cru with three runs scored and he finished a home run short of the cycle. Sloan had two hits and drove in three runs for UMHB.
The Cru broke open a tight game with four runs in the top of the ninth and rode another strong pitching performance from
Cameron Arnett to a 7-2 game two victory. Villegas scored on a wild pitch and Lynn added an RBI single to make it 2-0 UMHB after the top of the first inning. A Villegas RBI single made it 3-0 in the top of the second. HPU would close to within 3-1 in the bottom of the third and it would stay that way until the Cru erupted for four more in the ninth.
Alfredo Melendez singled home the first run, White added a two-run single and Joshlin doubled home the final run. The Yellow Jackets would add a run in the bottom of the ninth, but that would be as close as they could get. Arnett scattered three hits over eight innings and did not give up an earned run while raising his record to 6-4. Arnett struck out seven and walked just one.
Adrian Montoya closed it out for the Cru. Villegas, Joshlin and Melendez all had two hits apiece for UMHB.
UMHB will now return home for a crucial, three-game ASC West Division series to close out the regular season. The Cru will host Sul Ross State for a three-game set at Red Murff Field starting with a 2:00 PM single game on Friday. The two teams will then close out the series with a 12:00 PM doubleheader on Saturday. UMHB needs one win in the series to clinch a fourth straight ASC Championship Tournament berth.
