BELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor baseball team won in different ways, but the Cru came up with ways to take both contests in a doubleheader sweep of McMurry University Saturday in Belton. UMHB won game one 5-0 and held on for a 10-9 victory in the nightcap. The Cru improves to 15-14 overall and 8-9 in American Southwest Conference play with the two victories. The War Hawks drop to 8-20 overall and 5-15 in the ASC with the two losses.
UMHB used a dominating pitching performance from
Jeb Zolman and a five-run sixth inning to win game one 5-0. Zolman and McMurry's Nick Hamel were locked in a scoreless pitcher's duel going into the bottom of the sixth.
Blake Harmon broke the deadlock with an RBI double,
Caimyn Holiday added a two-run double and
Hunter McQuary and
Mateo Calle both singled home runs in the inning. That was more than enough for Zolman. He allowed only a one hit on a two-out double in the top of the third inning and struck out 12 to raise his record to 2-3. Hamel scattered 10 hits in five and two-thirds but dropped to 1-3 on the year. Holiday, McQuary and Jones all had two hits apiece for the Cru in the win.
The Cru rallied late to take a 10-9 victory in game two. UMHB opened the game two scoring with a four-run second inning.
Malek Bolin scored on a throwing error for the first run,
Daylon Nebgen tripled home another run and
Blake Harmon and Holiday added RBI singles. McMurry scored on a run in the top of the fourth and took advantage of two Cru errors to tie the game with three unearned runs in the top of the fifth. The game was delayed for an hour and 35 minutes by lightning in the top of the sixth inning. Sam Hillyer blasted a two-run homer in the second at bat after the delay ended to give the War Hawks their first lead of the day at 6-4 in the sixth. McMurry added two more in the seventh to make it 8-4. UMHB cut it to 8-7 in the bottom of the seventh on Bolin's sacrifice fly, Holiday's steal of home and
Hunter Jones' RBI single. McQuary's sinking liner went past the McMurry left fielder for a three-run inside the park home run to put the Cru up 10-8 in the bottom of the eighth. McMurry cut it to 10-9 in the top of the ninth, but
Trevor Ripke worked out of a bases loaded jam to preserve the victory.
Alex Palczewski earned the win for UMHB to move to 2-1 on the year and Ripke notched his second save of the year. Jones had three hits and McQuary and
Dawson Shibley added two hits apiece.
UMHB also recognized 11 seniors after the second game, including four from last year's team who never had a Senior Day after the season was canceled due to the pandemic. The two teams will close out the series with a 2 pm single game on Sunday. That will be the final home game of the season for UMHB baseball. The Cru closes out the regular season with a road non-conference game at Southwestern University and ASC road series at Hardin-Simmons and Concordia Texas.
