BELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor baseball team split a doubleheader against Hardin-Simmons University Saturday afternoon in Belton. The Cru moved to 19-10 overall and 11-7 in American Southwest Conference action while the Cowboys moved to 11-17 on the season and 6-9 in ASC play.
UMHB opened game one with back-to-back strikeouts from Rahul Champaneri for a perfect first inning. Hardin-Simmons took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third, scoring on a throwing error. The Cru evened the contest with an RBI groundout from Jordan Fernandez to score Elijah Rodriguez. Kaden deBerardinis followed that with a sacrifice flyout to bring Chris Perez home.
The Cowboys went back ahead in the top of the fifth frame with an RBI single. UMHB responded with a three-up, three-down inning in the sixth before a Rhett Grosz three-run home run put the Cru ahead 5-3 in the bottom of the frame. Nicklas Fenner pitched relief in the seventh, throwing a perfect inning to give UMHB the victory.
Champaneri (4-1) earned the win for UMHB, pitching six innings allowing one earned run on six hits with five strikeouts. The Cru outhit the Cowboys 8-6 led by Hagan and Chatman with two each.
The Cowboys scored early in game two with a first inning RBI single. UMHB quickly responded with the equalizer in the bottom of the frame on a Grosz single to bring in Hagan. The second inning saw one run each with a Cowboy RBI double followed by a Crusader RBI single from Fernandez to score Jayden Chatman.
UMHB took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the third on a throwing error that allowed Grosz to score. Hardin-Simmons answered with back-to-back homeruns in the fourth and fifth to take a 4-3 lead. The Cowboys added one more in the top of the sixth on an RBI double down the left field line, extending the gap to two.
The Cru cut the margin to one in the bottom of the sixth with a sacrifice flyout from Carson Riley to score Chatman. Nicklas Fenner led UMHB through a perfect top of the eighth with a trio of strikeouts.
The Cowboys continued their scoring in the top of ninth, driving in two on an RBI double followed by a throwing error to go ahead 7-4. UMHB put runners on in the final frame, but could not overcome the margin, falling 7-4.
Keegan Symons started on the mound for UMHB, throwing four innings and allowing two earned runs on seven hits with four strikeouts. Quint Mullen took the loss for the Cru, pitching three innings with two earned runs on four hits. Fenner threw the final two innings for UMHB with three strikeouts. The Cru recorded eight hits, led by Grosz and Chatman with two each.
UMHB returns to action Tuesday, April 9th in a 6:00 p.m. contest against University of St. Thomas in Belton.
