LONGVIEW, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor softball team split its American Southwest Conference opener with LeTourneau University Friday evening in Longview, beating the Yellow Jackets 10-4 before falling 7-6 in the second contest.
LeTourneau opened the game with a two-run lead in the first inning but the Cru responded in the second when
Izzy Gutierrez scored on an RBI single from
Bailey Wagner. LeTourneau's Katelyn Trombley hit a home run in the third inning to put the YellowJackets up by three runs. UMHB's offense took over from there, outscoring the YellowJackets 6-0 in the final three innings of action. The Cru scored a pair of runs in the fourth inning off RBI singles from
Lexi Harris and
Bailey Stoker and took the lead in the sixth inning, scoring two more runs off RBI from Stoker and
Elissa Elliott. UMHB tacked on five more runs in the seventh inning to secure the 10-4 win. Harris led UMHB with three hits and three runs while Elliott and Gutierrez each added three hits. UMHB totaled 10 runs on 16 hits with one error while LeTourneau had four runs on six hits with one error.
Jules Martinez,
Camryn Rucker and
Kylee Flores each saw time in the circle for the Cru. Martinez earned the win, pitching one inning with two hits and two runs allowed. Rucker went four innings with four hits and two runs allowed while Flores saw two innings of work with no hits or runs allowed. Bailey Richey took the loss for the YellowJackets, throwing 5.2 innings with 10 hits and five runs allowed.
UMHB took an early lead in the second contest, scoring three runs in the second inning with an RBI double from
Tatum Stover and a two-RBI home run from
Taylor Holman. LeTourneau responded in the bottom of that frame, scoring four runs on three hits to pull ahead. UMHB took another lead in the third inning with a pair of RBI singles from Izzy Guiterrez and
Elisabeth Paul. UMHB held a one-run lead until the fifth inning when LeTourneau scored on an RBI single from Tombley and a sacrifice fly from Callie Poore.
Bailey Eggleston hit an RBI single in the top of the sixth inning to score
Lexi Harris, but LeTourneau responded again in the bottom of the frame and edged the Cru by a run. The YellowJackets stalled UMHB's offense in the top of the seventh to secure the 7-6 win. Eggleston and Gutierrez led UMHB with three hits each while Stover had two runs. UMHB totaled six runs on 11 hits with four errors while the YellowJackets had seven runs on seven hits with two errors.
Bayleigh Grogan took the loss for the Cru, pitching the full six-inning contest. Richey earned the win in game two for LeTourneau, throwing 1.2 innings with no runs or hits allowed.
The Cru will finish the series tomorrow in a 12 p.m. single game in Longview.
