BELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor baseball team split a Saturday doubleheader with No. 5 East Texas Baptist University, winning the first game 2-0 before falling 3-0 in game two. UMHB moved to 16-6 on the day and 8-4 in American Southwest Conference action while the Tigers went to 17-7 overall and 8-1 in conference play.
Rahul Champaneri went through nine batters in the first three innings of game one, allowing just one hit and two base runners.
Carson Hagan put the Cru on top for the first time in the series in the bottom of the third, hitting a home run over the right field wall to score
Tyler Betts and put the Cru ahead by two runs.
Champaneri threw another perfect inning in the fourth and eliminated a two-runner threat in the fifth to keep the two-run lead. The Tigers got on board in the sixth inning, scoring on a sacrifice fly from Connor Massimini to cut the gap to just one run. ETBU had a runner in scoring position later in the frame but the Cru infield got out of that with a caught stealing to empty the bases.
Nicklas Fenner closed the game on the mound, getting around a base runner to secure the 2-1 win. Hagan was the lone Crusader to record a hit or RBI with
Tyler Betts also adding a run after reaching on a walk.
Champaneri earned the win on the mound, throwing six innings with four hits and one run allowed. Champaneri struck out three in the outing with just one walk while Sayers Collins took his first loss of the season, throwing 5.1 innings with one hit allowed.
"That was my favorite win in five years here," Champaneri said. "It meant a lot to me."
East Texas Baptist got an early lead in the second game with a single-run inning in the first. The Tigers threatened again in the third but a big strikeout from
Keegan Symons eliminated the threat. ETBU pressed again in the fourth with a runner in scoring position but a great catch from
Kaden deBerardinis in centerfield got the Cru out of the inning unscathed.
The Cru allowed single base runners in the fourth and fifth but neither were able to score. UMHB loaded the bases in the sixth but the Tigers worked around the jam to keep their one-run lead. ETBU extended the lead to two runs in the top of the seventh and threatened with the bases loaded but
Nicklas Fenner forced a flyout in his first at-bat of game two to keep the lead at two.
The Tigers put up another solo run frame in the eighth to go ahead 3-0 and did not allow the Crusaders to score, sealing the 3-0 victory.
UMHB totaled four hits in the contest, led by
Elijah Rodriguez with two.
Keegan Symons took the loss for UMHB, pitching three innings with one run allowed. UMHB threw five bullpen pitchers in relief, giving up just seven total hits in the contest.
UMHB returns to action in a three-game series next week at LeTourneau University in Longview. UMHB opens the series with a 7 p.m. single game on Thursday, March 28
th and closes with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Friday, March 29
th.
