Belton, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor baseball team fought cold weather and the UT Tyler Patriots Saturday night in Belton, falling 5-1 to the Patriots. The loss dropped the Cru to 9-17 on the season and 5-8 in American Southwest Conference action while the Patriots improved to 18-10 overall and 8-5 in league play.
 
UT Tyler took an early lead with a one-run first inning when Jared Pauley scored off an RBI single by Josh Burns. UMHB evened the contest in the bottom of that inning with an RBI single from Max Conway, scoring Dakota Best from second.  The tie held until the top of the sixth when the Patriots' Bowie Farris hit an RBI single to score Jordan Antley. UT Tyler extended that lead with a three-run, three-hit eighth inning. Blake Maddox doubled to score Blake Wilson before Graham Welch hit a home run on the next at-bat for a 5-1 Patriot advantage. UMHB put one runner on in the top of the ninth but was unable to catch the Patriots, securing UT Tyler's 5-1 win. Caleb Davis led the Cru with two hits each while three other Crusaders added one. Best was the lone base runner to score for UMHB. Casey Frazier started on the mound for the Cru, throwing five innings with one run allowed and six strikeouts. Andrew Hutchings took the loss, allowing one run and two hits in 1.1 innings of work. Ryan Cheatham was the winner for UT Tyler, pitching eight innings with five hits and one run allowed. Cheatham struck out five and walked just two. UMHB totaled one run on five hits with one error while the Patriots had five runs on 13 hits with one error.
 
UMHB returns to action on Sunday, April 8^th in a 1:30 p.m. doubleheader against the Patriots at Red Murff Field in Belton.