BELTON, Texas - The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor baseball team opened a four-game series against Hardin-Simmons University with a pair of wins Thursday at Red Murff Field in Belton. The wins improved the Cru to 15-8 on the season and 3-3 in American Southwest Conference play while the Cowboys fell to 4-16 overall and 1-4 in conference action.
 
Hardin-Simmons put up a solo run in the first inning before the Cru mirrored, scoring Carson Hagan off an RBI single from Riley Bender. James McGlumphy threw a perfect frame in the second before the Cru scored two more runs in the third. Easton Cline singled to right field then stole second to get into scoring position. Hagan scored Cline with another single to right field before Shane Melick doubled to score Hagan for a 3-1 Crusader lead.
 
McGlumphy kept the Cowboys scoreless through the rest of the game, earning the 3-1 victory. He threw seven complete innings, giving up just six hits with eight strikeouts.
 
Hagan led the Cru with three hits and two runs scored while he, Bender and Melick each added an RBI. UMHB totaled three runs on eight hits with one error while the Cowboys had one run on six hits.
 
UMHB jumped to an early lead in the second game, scoring two first-inning runs. Riley Bender singled up the middle to score Cameron Talburt, who reached on a double. Tyler Betts followed that with another single up the middle, scoring Bender for the two-run lead.
 
The Cru tallied three more runs in the fifth to take a 5-0 lead. Austin Birkhoff reached on an error then scored on a double from Easton Cline. Cline then scored on a single from Hagan before Hagan reached home on an RBI from Riley Bender. Hardin-Simmons threatened in the third but Jasson Hemmerling, Jr. threw out a base stealer to eliminate the threat.
 
Exavier Mendez opened the third inning with a single to right center before Tyler Betts hit one to left field. Hemmerling, Jr. hit both runners in with a single up the middle and later scored on an RBI from Cline, extending the Crusader lead to eight.
 
UMHB threw blanks in the next three frames but the Cowboys scored three in the seventh to cut the gap to five runs. UMHB got two runs back, scoring on errors in the seventh and eighth for a 10-3 lead. Mason Reyes closed the game on the mound, throwing a perfect ninth inning.
 
UMHB totaled 10 runs on 13 hits in the contest with five Crusaders putting up multiple hits. Bender and Hemmerling, Jr. both recorded multiple RBI while Bender and Cline each scored a team-high two runs.
Kolby McBee earned the start for the Cru, pitching 6.2 innings with three runs and six hits allowed. McBee struck out nine with just two batters walked. Reid Cromie threw 1.1 innings in relief, striking out two while Reyes had a ground out, line out and strike out in his outing.
 
UMHB returns to action on Friday, April 4^th in a 6 p.m. contest against the Cowboys at Red Murff Field in Belton.