BELTON, Texas– The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor softball team completed a three-game sweep of Belhaven University, beating the Blazers 5-4 and 5-3 Saturday afternoon in Belton. The wins improved the Cru to 22-9 on the season and 16-5 in American Southwest Conference action while the Blazers fell to 17-9 overall and 8-7 in league play.
 
UMHB opened play in the second contest against the Blazers on Friday, April 6th but the game was delayed due to lightening. Cassidy Blount opened the game with an RBI single to score Meg Garton and the Blazers held a 1-0 lead through the bottom of the fourth when the game was delayed. UMHB picked up the contest with one out in the fourth inning. The 1-0 Belhaven lead held until the top of the fifth when Danielle Darmohray hit a home run to extend the lead to 2-0. UMHB responded in the bottom of the fifth, scoring four runs. Makenzi Dawson and Linsey Tomlinson scored on back-to-back RBI doubles before Avery Kelly slammed a home run off the scoreboard, scoring Emily Bounds for a 4-2 Cru lead. The Blazers evened the game in the top of the seventh with an RBI single from Marissa Rice. The game went into extra innings until the Cru secured the 5-4 win in the bottom of the ninth. Dawson slammed a triple then scored on an RBI single from Emily Bounds. Dawson and Bounds led the Cru with two hits each while Dawson scored a team-high two runs. Hannah Halepaska earned the win for UMHB, pitching nine innings with four runs and five hits allowed. Jordan Herring took the loss for the Blazers, allowing five runs and nine hits. UMHB totaled five runs on nine hits with one error while the Blazers had four runs on five hits with one error.
 
UMHB played a close one in the second contest, grabbing a 5-3 win over Belhaven. The Cru took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Bounds doubled to left field, scoring Dawson from second. UMHB held that lead until the bottom of the fourth when they pulled away with a three-run inning. Hannah Wolfe opened the inning with a home run before Tomlinson slammed an RBI double to score Jessica Picou. Tomlinson then scored off an error to put the Cru up 4-0. Belhaven cut the lead in the top of the fifth, scoring runs off two RBI singles. UMHB added one more insurance run in the bottom of that inning off an RBI single from Kourtney Cummings. The Blazers scored once more in the top of the seventh but UMHB tagged a runner out at home to secure the 5-3 win. Five different Crusaders recorded runs and hits for UMHB. Karen Tennis earned the win, pitching a complete seven innings with three runs and seven hits allowed. Jordan Herring took the loss for the Blazers, allowing three hits and four runs in four innings of work.
 
UMHB returns to action on Friday, April 13^th in a 4 p.m. doubleheader against Louisiana College in Pineville.