BELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor baseball team dominated 8-0 in a midweek matchup versus the University of St. Thomas (Texas) Tuesday night in Belton.
 
Freshman Jackson Keenan took the mound for the Cru against The Celts. Keenan worked around an early jam and ended the first inning unscathed. The Celts got a leadoff single in the second before Warren Sammons threw out a would-be base stealer and Keenan closed the half inning with a strikeout. The Celts were able to load the bases in the third with two outs, but Keenan induced a flyout to center to escape the frame.
 
Tyler Betts stole his second base of the game in the third inning, putting himself in scoring position. Rhett Grosz delivered, driving a double into the left centerfield gap to score Betts, giving the Cru a 1-0 lead. 
 
Keenan's next two innings were clean, closing his day with five innings, no runs allowed and four strikeouts.
 
UMHB got started fast in the bottom of the sixth inning. Grosz, with both of UMHB's hits, doubled down the right field line and later scored on a wild pitch. Hunter Jones and Carson Hagan were in scoring position for the Cru with no outs when Staton Dudley singled home Jones. The Cru maintained their aggressiveness from there. Hagan stole home after the initial throw went to second, trying to catch Dudley stealing. Warren Sammons singled, giving the Cru runners on the corners and Blake Harmon brought them home with a double down the left field line. Harmon then scored on a Kaden deBerardinis groundout followed by a Drake Herrera score on Rhett Grosz's second hit of the inning. The Cru recorded seven runs in the bottom of the sixth, taking a commanding 8-0 lead over the Celts.
 
The pitching got the job done for the Cru from there. Russell Vadala pitched through the eighth inning and Reid Cromie finished the top of the ninth, retiring the Celts in order to officially give the Cru an 8-0 win against University of St. Thomas.
 
Rhett Grosz led the Cru offense today, reaching base safely all four times, and driving in two runs. Jackson Keenan, Russell Vadala and Reid Cromie combined for a shutout against a strong Celts' offense, totaling 10 strikeouts.  
 
This game was UMHB's first CRUSH CANCER event, starting with a special ceremonial first pitch between Claudia Nunez and Trevor Ripke followed by a seventh inning ceremony and prayer. UMHB returns to action this weekend with a doubleheader on Friday, April 21^st starting at noon in a conference matchup against University of Ozarks in Clarksville.