ALPINE, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor baseball team led early in both games but could not hold off the Sul Ross State offense as the Cru dropped both ends of a doubleheader to the Lobos Saturday afternoon in Alpine. UMHB fell 16-7 in game one and took a 14-4 loss in game two. The Cru closes out the season at 10-29 overall and 6-18 in American Southwest Conference play. Sul Ross improves to 23-17 overall and 17-7 in the ASC with the two victories.
The Cru saw a late lead disappear in the Lobos' 11-run sixth inning in a 16-7 game one loss. UMHB took a 2-0 lead on Malek Bolin's two-run homer in the top of the first. Sul Ross scored one in the second and two in the fourth to take a 3-2 lead. Max Conway blasted a three-run home run and Landon Dieterich added a two-run shot to give the Cru a 7-3 lead in the top of the fifth inning. The Lobos scored two in the bottom of that frame to cut it to 7-5 and then erupted for 11 more in the bottom of the sixth to take control of the contest. Ryan Almager drove in five runs in the inning, including a grand slam to close out the scoring as the Lobos jumped out to a 16-7 lead. Austin Blanford walked and moved to second on a wild pitch in the top of the seventh, but that would be all the offense the Cru could generate. Dieterich and Dakota Best had three hits apiece for UMHB while Bolin and Conway added two hits each. Andrew Hutchings was tagged with the loss for the Cru to drop to 2-6 on the year. Ryan Acebedo had three hits, including a homer for Sul Ross and four other players added two hits apiece. Coleman Ramsey picked up the win for the Lobos.
The Cru saw another lead get away in the 14-4 game two loss. UMHB built a 3-0 lead on Conway's RBI single and Cameron Wachsmann's two-run single in the top of the first inning. Sul Ross answered with four runs in the bottom of the second and added a run in the third to make it a two-run cushion. Almager's two-run home run stretched the lead to 7-3 in the bottom of the fourth inning. Bolin's solo home run cut the gap to 7-4 in the top of the fifth inning for the Cru but the Lobos answered with a run in the bottom of that stanza. Sul Ross added three runs in the sixth to take an 11-4 lead. Mike Munden's two-run single in the bottom of the seventh capped a three-run inning as the Lobos ended the game on the run rule. Hayden Ball took the loss for the Cru to fall to 0-2 on the year. Conway finished with three of UMHB's seven hits in the defeat. Seven players had two or more hits as Sul Ross finished with 17 hits as a team. Justin Haros notched the win for the Lobos.
Saturday's doubleheader closes out the 2018 season for the Cru. The games also close out the careers of UMHB seniors Caleb Davis, Casey Frazier, Trevis Green, Stuart Hennigar and Jacob Krzemien.
