BELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor softball team earned its third win of the week Wednesday evening in Belton, edging the Southwestern University Pirates 2-1.  The win improved the Cru to 7-9 on the season while the Pirates moved to 4-4.
 
Southwestern jumped to an early lead in the first inning when Maddie Mefford scored Tori Montemayor with an RBI single. The Pirates led the Cru until the bottom of the fourth inning when Izzy Gutierrez slammed an RBI double, scoring Taylor Holman. UMHB had the bases loaded in that inning but a diving catch by Southwestern centerfielder Izzy Richey left the game tied at one run apiece. Taylor Holman scored the go-ahead run for UMHB, rounding three bases off an RBI double from Bailey Eggleston to give UMHB its first lead of the contest. Southwestern saw a pair of base runners in the final two innings but UMHB got out of it, finishing with a 2-1 win. .
 
Eggleston led the Cru with two hits while Holman scored both of UMHB's runs. Bayleigh Grogan earned the win in the circle, pitching 4.2 innings with three hits and no runs allowed. Tori Montemayor took the loss for the Pirates, giving up six hits and two runs in six innings of work. UMHB totaled two runs on six hits with no errors while the Pirates had one run on six hits with three errors.
 
The Cru returns to action in a conference road series at University of the Ozarks March 19-20 in Clarksville, Ark.