SHERMAN, Texas – University of Mary Hardin-Baylor baseball swept Austin College in a three-game series Saturday in Sherman. The Cru opens the season at 3-0 while Austin College opens with an 0-3 record.
 
The Cru opened the 2025 season Friday night in Sherman. Alejandro Sanchez III began the match-up with a single to left field, following with two stolen bases but was stranded at third to end the top of the first inning. Carson Hagan added a single to shortstop at the bottom of the third. Due to fog, the game was postponed and play continued in the top of the fourth inning on Saturday, February 8^th. James McGlumphy made the start on the mound, pitching all three innings played on Friday tallying five strikeouts with just 12 batters faced.
 
Nolan Williams began the second day of game one action with a single to third but was left on at the close of the top of the fourth inning. Alex Hill took over for McGlumphy in the bottom of the fourth pitching a three at-bat inning, striking out one batter. The Roos struck first after two batters reached on a hit by pitch, scoring one on a fielder's choice. The Cru was able to end the inning with one runner left on base. Alejandro Sanchez III responded in the top of the sixth with a solo homerun to knot the game at one. The Cru took the lead in the top of the seventh inning after a two-RBI double from Tyler Martin scored JC Hughes and Riley Bender to make it a 3-1 game. A Roos throwing error in the top of the eighth inning allowed Alejandro Sanchez III to make it home after he reached first on a fielder's choice and followed by stealing second base. UMHB allowed an unearned run for Austin College in the bottom of the eighth inning, but closed out the scoring  with a 4-2 Cru win.  
 
Alejandro Sanchez III went 2-4 with one homerun with three stolen bases. Tyler Martin tallied two RBI and one stolen base. Alex Hill earned the win on the mound pitching 4.1 innings, striking out four and only giving up one hit. Nicklas Fenner earned the save, closing out the game pitching 1.1 innings.
 
The Cru came out swinging in the second game of the series, scoring four runs in the first inning off two, two-run homeruns from Alejandro Sanchez III, his second of the day, and Riley Bender. Austin College cut into UMHB's lead after scoring two in the bottom of the first inning. Cameron Talburt responded in the top of the second inning with a solo homerun to make it a 5-2 ballgame. UMHB added four runs in the top of the fourth with RBI from Tyler Martin, Carson Hagan and two from Nolan Williams. Austin College added one more in the bottom of the fifth, but UMHB answered with three more in the top of the sixth. The score moved to 12-4 with two RBI from Sanchez III and one from Bender. The Roos added their last two runs in the bottom of the sixth, but the Cru held them at seven for the remainder of the game. UMHB was not finished, adding two more in the top of the seventh off a Jordan Fernandez RBI single. He advanced to third on a single through the right side from Carson Hagan, then scored on a ground ball from Exavier Mendez. The Cru earned its second win of the day with a final score of 14-7.
 
Four Crusaders went 2-4 in the second game of series, with Cameron Talburt, Alejandro Sanchez III and Riley Bender each adding a homerun. UMHB had a collective .394 batting average with 13 hits in game two. Kolby McBee was credited with the win for the Cru, pitching five full innings with 22 batters faced, allowing just six hits.
 
UMHB opened game three of the series with five early runs in the top of the first inning off five hits. Hemmerling and Sanchez III each added one RBI, while Bender added two of his own. The Roos answered with three runs off four hits in the bottom of the first. The Cru put up four more runs in the second inning making it a 7-3 ballgame courtesy of an RBI from JC Hughes and Cameron Talburt. UMHB went on to add six more runs along with Austin College's five additional runs, giving the Cru a 13-8 win.
 
Riley Bender led the Cru in game three with three hits, two of which were doubles, and four RBI. Cameron Talburt was the leading base runner with three stolen bases, followed by Carson Hagan, Alejandro Sanchez III, and Tyler Martin who each added two of their own. UMHB totaled 10 stolen bases in the final game of the series. Carter Kammlah earned the win on the mound pitching three innings and facing 12 batters with just three hits allowed. Preston Blake also pitched three complete innings holding 10 batters to no hits, earning him the save.
 
UMHB returns to action in Seguin on Tuesday, February 11^th in a 3:00 PM doubleheader against Texas Lutheran University.