BROWNWOOD, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor softball team closed out the regular season with a 9-1 win at Howard Payne University Saturday in Brownwood. The win improved the Cru to 31-9 on the season and 24-6 in American Southwest Conference action while the Yellow Jackets fell to 5-34 overall and 2-28 in league play.
 
Tatum Stover put the Cru on the board in the second inning, scoring on an HPU fielding error. Cesare hit in two more runs to put the Cru up by three before Howard Payne's Tori Muro homered to give the Yellow Jackets a run. UMHB's offense exploded in the third, scoring five runs in the outing. Allyse Castillo scored Izzy Gutierrez and Elissa Elliott on a double before Castillo reached on an RBI single from Lexi Harris. UMHB scored two more off another RBI hit from Cesare, taking an 8-1 lead after two and a half innings. Blakely Niles hit in another run in the top of the fourth as the Cru held on for a 9-1 win.  
 
Cesare, Stover and Niles led the Cru with two hits each while Stover added two runs and Cesare totaled four RBI. Kami Flores and Grason Long split time in the circle for the Cru, combining for five innings and three hits allowed. UMHB totaled nine runs on 14 hits while the Yellow Jackets had one run on three hits with two errors.
 
UMHB returns to action in the 2022 American Southwest Conference Championship Softball Tournament May 5^th – 7^th.