BELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor baseball team dropped a doubleheader to Howard Payne University Saturday afternoon in Belton.
 
James McGlumphy blanked the Yellow Jackets in the first two innings of the opener, throwing five strikeouts in eight at-bats. Howard Payne took a lead in the top of the third inning off an RBI single from Kayden Kelley. The Yellow Jackets tacked on one more run in the fourth inning for a 3-0 lead. UMHB cut the gap in the bottom of the fifth when Carson Hagan scored on a sacrifice fly from Drake Herrera. UMHB had base runners in the bottom of the sixth and seven but wasn't able to bring anyone around, falling to the Yellow Jackets 3-1.
 
Five different Crusaders recorded hits for the Cru while Hagan scored the Cru's lone run and Herrera recorded the RBI. James McGlumphy threw five innings with three runs allowed. McGlumphy totaled eight strikeouts in the outing against 21 batters faced. Alex Palczewski pitched in relief, throwing two innings with one hit allowed. Brayden Ferrie earned the win for Howard Payne, pitching 4.1 innings with three hits and one run allowed. UMHB totaled one run on five hits with two errors while Howard Payne had three runs on six hits with two errors.
 
UMHB jumped to an early lead in game two, scoring a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning. Rhett Grosz doubled to score Hunter Jones before reaching home on a single from Hayden Guerin. Nicklas Fenner followed that with four more scoreless innings on the mound before UMHB added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth. Tyler Betts and Drake Herrera opened the inning with back-to-back singles before Hunter Jones hit them both in with a single. Howard Payne responded in the next two frames, scoring a combined nine runs to take a 9-4 lead. The Cru added one more run in the bottom of that frame on a double from Jones, but neither team scored again giving the Yellow Jackets the 9-5 win.
 
Four Crusaders recorded multiple hits for UMHB while Jones had the team-high three RBI. Drake Herrera led the Cru with two runs as UMHB totaled five runs on 10 hits with one error. Nicklas Fenner opened the game with five shutout innings, allowing eight hits with five strikeouts. Six other Crusaders earned mound appearances for the Cru with Cameron Bogan, Reid Cromie and JD Gerda each pitching shutouts.
 
UMHB returns to action on Tuesday, March 7^th in a 2 p.m. doubleheader at Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio. The Cru returns home March 31^st -April 1^st in a conference series against LeTourneau University.