BELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor softball team rallied from a six-run deficit against No. 3 East Texas Baptist Saturday afternoon in Belton, but dropped the final game of three-game series 7-5 to the Tigers. The win improved ETBU to 6-0 on the season and 6-0 in American Southwest Conference action. The Cru fell to 6-7 overall and 5-4 in conference play with the loss.
Kaitlyn Hollingshead gave ETBU a lead in the top of the third with a homerun over the centerfield wall, scoring Kayla Garcia from first and giving the Tigers a 2-0 lead. The Tigers added another run in the top of the fourth when Taylor Lindsay hit an RBI single, scoring Maranda Westbrook for a 3-0 lead. The Tigers added three more runs in the top of the fifth before Leah Brown hit a homerun over the left field wall in the bottom of the fifth, scoring Tiffany Birdwell and cutting the Tigers' lead to 6-2. The Cru used a strong bottom of the sixth to cut the Tigers' lead, scoring three runs off a pair of walks and an ETBU error. The Tigers added one more run in the top of the seventh and the Cru was unable to catch up, giving ETBU the 7-5 victory. Janie Neyland led the Cru with three hits while Birdwell and Brown each added two. Brown, the Schlotzsky's Lotz Better Player of the Game, had a team-high three RBI while five different Crusaders scored runs for UMHB. Birdwell took the loss in the circle, allowing three runs on four hits with one strikeout. Karen Tennis and Olivia Curtis also contributed to the pitching staff for UMHB. Tennis went 0.2 innings with three runs on three hits while Curtis pitched 2.2 innings, giving up one run on three hits. UMHB totaled five runs on 10 hits with three errors while the Tigers had seven runs on 10 hits with two errors.
UMHB returns to action in a conference series at the University of Texas at Tyler, opening on Friday, March 13th at 5 p.m. in Tyler. The series will continue on Saturday, March 14th with a 1 p.m. doubleheader.
