BELTON, Texas - The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor baseball team routed Muhlenberg College 10-1 in a Friday night win at Red Murff Field in Belton. The win also marked
Mike Stawski's 100
th win as head coach of UMHB. UMHB improved to 8-4 with the win while the Mules fell to 7-5.
Preston Blake struck out his first batter and pitched around runners on to open with a shutout frame.
Riley Bender put UMHB on the board in the bottom of the first, slamming a two-RBI double to score
Carson Hagan and
Tyler Betts for a 2-0 Cru lead. The Mules threatened in the second but a quick relay from Hagan to
Easton Cline to
Jasson Hemmerling, Jr. tagged the runner out at home to blank Muhlenberg.
Cline followed that with a homerun over the right field wall, scoring Hemmerling for a 4-0 Crusader margin. UMHB tacked on two more runs in the third, scoring off back-to-back sacrifice flies from
Jordan Fernandez and
Jasson Hemmerling, Jr. for a 6-0 lead.
UMHB gave up just one hit in the fourth.
Mason Semmelmann took the mound in the fifth, striking out his first two batters and forcing a fly out to keep the Mules scoreless.
Muhlenberg scored on a wild pitch in the top of the sixth and had another runner in scoring position but the Cru turned a double play to keep the runs to just one in the inning. UMHB scored one in the bottom of the sixth when
Tyler Betts scored
Easton Cline with a sacrifice fly to right field.
Carson Hagan hit in two more runs in the bottom of the seventh, scoring Cline and Hemmerling with a single to centerfield.
UMHB blanked the Mules again in the eighth and UMHB tacked on one more, sealing the 10-1 win for the Cru.
Riley Bender led the Cru with three hits and three RBI while Hemmerling added two hits and Cline scored three runs.
Preston Blake earned the start for the Cru, throwing four innings with five hits allowed.
Mason Semmelmann,
Cole Morkovsky,
Isaac Brann and
Reid Cromie pitched in relief. The Cru struck out eight in the contest, allowing just one earned run. The Cru also tallied 14 stolen bases in the contest, breaking the previous record of 10 and
Carson Hagan became the all-time stolen bases leader with 66 overall. UMHB totaled 10 runs on nine hits while the Mules had one run on six hits.
UMHB returns to action on Saturday, March 15
th in a 12 p.m. doubleheader against Muhlenberg College at Red Murff Field in Belton.