CLINTON, Mississippi – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor softball team split its opening day at the American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament. UMHB fell 2-0 to East Texas Baptist University before beating Belhaven University 7-5 in an elimination game.
UMHB opened the day with against AFCA No. 8 and East Division No. 2 seed East Texas Baptist University. The game was deadlocked through the first five innings of action with just five total hits between the two teams. Hannah Garcia opened the sixth inning with a double for the Tigers. Garcia advanced to third on a dropped strike and then scored on an error to give ETBU a 1-0 lead. The Tigers added one more run off an RBI single from Jeanette Galvan to take a two-run lead. UMHB was unable to get another runner on base, ending the contest with a 2-0 loss.
Bayleigh Grogan pitched all seven innings for the Cru, giving up seven hits and two runs with two strikeouts. Ashley Croft threw all seven inning for ETBU, surrendering just one hit and two walks with seven strikeouts. UMHB totaled one hit and one error while the Tigers had two runs on seven this with one error.
Belhaven opened the second contest with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning. UMHB's offense responded in the second.
Alyssa Bates scored on an error before
Milly Cesare hit in
Lexi Harris and
Tyeann Johnson with an RBI single. UMHB added one more run on an RBI single from
Elissa Elliott, giving the Cru a 4-2 lead. UMHB added three more runs in the third inning.
Bailey Eggleston scored on an RBI single from
Tatum Stover before Bates and Stover both scored on an error. Belhaven added two runs in the fourth inning and one in the sixth to cut UMHB's lead to 7-5 but the Cru held on, advancing with a 7-5 win over the Blazers.
Camryn Rucker earned the win in the circle, throwing four innings with three hits and two runs allowed.
Kami Flores and Bailey Grogan both pitched in relief. Flores allowed 3 hits and two runs while Grogan went 2.2 innings with one hit and one run allowed to earn the save. Bailey Root took the loss for Belhaven. Elliott, Cesare and
Alyssa Bates had two hits apiece for the Cru in the victory.
UMHB is now 26-13 on the season and the Cru advances to a semifinal match on Saturday, May 8
th at 11:00 a.m. The winner of that game advances to the championship game at 2 p.m.