LONGVIEW, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor softball team closed out a three-game sweep of LeTourneau University with two victories on Saturday afternoon in Longview. The Cru earned an 8-6 win in the first contest and followed that with a 9-0 win over the Yellow Jackets. The win improved the Cru to 6-2 on the season and 5-1 in American Southwest Conference action while LeTourneau moved to 9-6 overall and 4-5 in conference play.

UMHB took an early lead over the Yellow Jackets with a three-run first inning. Karley Free opened scoring with an RBI single, scoring Janie Neyland. Myranda Hinojosa followed that with a two RBI single, scoring Free and Cori Drake. LeTourneau added runs in the bottom of the first and second innings to cut the Cru's lead to one run, before Amelia Cluke hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the fourth, scoring Myranda Hinojosa and increasing UMHB's lead to 4-2. LeTourneau responded with a pair of single-run innings in the fourth and fifth to tie the contest at 4-4. The game remained tied until the top of the seventh when UMHB put together a four-run inning. Drake opened with an RBI single, scoring Leah Brown before Free hit a groundout RBI to score Neyland. Tiffany Birdwell was next, hitting an RBI single to score Christy Garrett before Hinojosa hit an RBI double, scoring Bailey Bohlken for an 8-4 lead. UMHB gave up two runs in the bottom of the seventh, but maintained a two-run lead for the 8-6 win. Neyland led the Cru with four hits and two runs while Hinojosa recorded three hits and a team-high three RBI. Karen Tennis started in the circle for the Cru, pitching 3.1 innings with six hits, three runs and four strikeouts. Birdwell earned the win for UMHB, pitching 3.2 innings with three hits and three runs. UMHB totaled eight runs on 12 hits with two errors. LeTourneau had six runs on nine hits with three errors.

In the second game, Leah brown scored in the top of the first for a 1-0 Cru lead. Free hit a home run in the top of the fourth inning, scoring Garrett and extending UMHB's lead to three. UMHB's offense exploded in the top of the six runs. Brown and Neyland hit back-to-back RBI singles, scoring Vann and Cluke. Drake and Free then hit back-to-back doubles for three RBI, followed by RBI single from Hinojosa. LeTourneau was not able to respond to UMHB's 9-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth, giving the Cru its three-game sweep. Neyland and Drake led the Cru with three hits each while Drake and Free each batted in three runs. Haley Parker earned her second shutout of the weekend, allowing three hits and striking out three batters. UMHB totaled nine runs on 14 hits with no errors. The Yellow Jackets totaled three hits and two errors.