BELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor softball team swept a doubleheader at Southwestern University Saturday afternoon in Georgetown to open the 2017 season at 2-0. UMHB earned an 8-6 victory over the Pirates before a come-from-behind 14-10 win to complete the two-game sweep.
 
The first game remained scoreless until Kasi Cummings hit a home run in the top of the fourth inning, scoring Avery Kelly and Kourtney Cummings for a 3-0 advantage. The Pirates responded in the bottom of the sixth, scoring four runs to take a 4-3 lead over UMHB. Taylor Curtis earned an RBI walk to open scoring for Southwestern before Kaitlynn Copher hit a two-RBI single followed by an RBI single from Berkeley Bacon to end the inning with four runs on five hits. UMHB used a four-run top of the seventh to gain another lead over the Pirates. Makenzi Dawson hit an RBI single to score Devon Walter before Leah Brown hit a grand slam, scoring Kourtney Cummings, Dawson and Molly Dolezel for an 8-4 lead. Southwestern University added two more runs in the bottom of the seventh but were unable to catch the Cru. Bailey Bohlken led UMHB with two hits while five other Crusaders had one. Brown had a team-high four RBI followed by Kasi Cummings with three. Kourtney Cummings led the Cru with two runs scored. Haley Parker earned the win in the circle for the Cru, pitching the final two innings with five hits and two runs allowed. Karen Tennis opened the game for the Cru, pitching five innings with six hits and four runs allowed. UMHB totaled eight runs with seven hits with no errors while the Pirates had six runs on 11 hits with no errors.

Southwestern scored two runs in the top of the first, opening the second game of the doubleheader with a 2-0 lead after the first. Devon Walter hit a home run to left field in the top of the second to cut the Pirates lead to just one run before Dawson hit an RBI double to left center field, scoring Linsey Tomlinson and evening the game at two runs each. Kourtney Cummings then gave the Cru a lead with a two-RBI single, ending the second inning with four runs for UMHB. Southwestern responded with a six-run bottom of the third, led by Berkeley Bacon and Amelia Fuchs with two RBI each. Dawson, Kourtney Cummings and Christy Garrett all scored off errors in the top of the fourth to cut the Pirates lead to just one run before Taylor Curtis singled then advanced on an error to bring in two more Pirate runners for a 10-7 lead after five innings. UMHB's response was strong, stringing together a seven-run top of the sixth to gain a 14-10 advantage over Southwestern.  Bohlken, Brown, Kelly and Tomlinson each recorded RBI as UMHB scored seven runs on five hits with two errors. Neither team was able to score again, ending the game with a 14-10 UMHB victory. Kourtney Cummings and Shelly Snyder led the Cru with three hits en route to a team-total of 17. Tomlinson, Walter, Kourtney Cummings and Dawson each recorded a team-high two runs while Kelly, Brown and Kourtney Cummings had a team-leading two RBI. Haley Parker again earned the win in the circle for UMHB, pitching 4.2 innings with two runs on four hits and three strikeouts. CeCe Darilek and Paige McNeely also made their college debuts in the circle, combining for 10 hits in 2.1 innings of work. UMHB totaled 14 runs on 17 hits with three errors while the Pirates had 10 runs on 14 hits with four errors.

UMHB returns to action in a road series at LeTourneau University Friday, February 10^th and Saturday, February 11^th in Longview. The series opens with a 3 p.m. doubleheader on Friday and concludes with a noon doubleheader on Saturday. UMHB will open the home slate on Friday, February 17^th with a 4 p.m. doubleheader against Howard Payne University at Dee Dillon Field in Belton.