MARSHALL, Texas – University of Mary Hardin-Baylor softball team earned a pair of wins over Illinois Wesleyan University Wednesday afternoon in Marshall. The wins improved the Cru to 9-4 on the season while the Titans moved to 4-8.
 
Izzy Gutierrez gave UMHB a first-inning lead in the first contest, hitting a single to centerfield to score Lexi Harris in the top of the first inning. UMHB held that one-run lead until the fourth inning when Bailey Eggleston singled to score Lindsey Polleschultz and put the Cru up by two. The Titans responded with a single run in the sixth inning but UMHB's defense did not allow another score, earning the 2-1 win.
 
Six different Crusaders each recorded a hit while Harris and Polleschultz scored one run each. UMHB totaled two runs on six hits with no errors while the Titans had one run on three hits with one error. Grason Long pitched the win in the circle for the Cru, throwing seven innings with three hits and one run allowed. Long totaled four strikeouts in 24 total at-bats.
 
Ava Khoury opened the second-game with a solo home run in the second inning to give Illinois Wesleyan a one-run lead. Neither team got a runner on base in the third inning, keeping the score at 1-0 IWU. UMHB's offense exploded in the fourth inning, scoring five runs off two hits for a four-run lead. Bryton Wright singled up the middle to score Bralyn Belk and Izzy Gutierrez. Kyler Sanders followed that with a two-RBI double, scoring Kylie Green and Jessica Miller before Sanders reached home on a wild pitch for a 5-1 score in favor of the Cru.  
 
The Titans put a runner in scoring position in the bottom of the fourth inning but a pair of ground outs left them scoreless in that frame. UMHB's defense allowed just two base runners in the fifth and sixth innings to keep the lead. Emily Wade pitched a three-up, three-down inning in the bottom of the seventh to hold the 5-1 win for the Cru.
 
Kyler Sanders led the Cru with two hits while Wright and Sanders each had a team-high two RBI. UMHB totaled five runs on five hits with one error while the Titans had one run on four hits with two errors.
 
Kami Flores earned the win in the circle for the Cru, pitching six innings with four hits and one run allowed. Flores struck out three batters in the contest. Emily Wade pitched one inning in relief with three consecutive outs.
 
UMHB returns to action tomorrow in a 2 p.m. doubleheader against Eastern Connecticut State University. Those games will also be played in Marshall.