BELTON, Texas — The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor baseball team split the day with Macalester College, going 1-1 Saturday afternoon. This moves the Cru's record to 8-5, while the Scots earn a 3-3 mark on the season.
Macalester opened game one with a two-run first inning off two hits. The Cru cut the deficit in half with one run in the bottom of the frame, when Cameron Talburt led off with a single to right, later moving around to score on a Taylor McDaniel RBI single. The Scots put another run on the board in the second inning, but Trae Deck III responded in the bottom of the third with a first-pitch solo home run.
The Cru broke the game open in the bottom of the fifth with Riley Bender leading off with a solo home run. McDaniel and Nolan Williams got on with a single each before Braden Fuentes cleared the bases with a three-run homerun. Jasson Hemmerling, Jr. followed right after Fuentes with a home run of his own, giving the Cru a 7-3 lead. Macalester put up two more in the top of the fifth, cutting UMHB's deficit to 7-5.
The Scots took the lead back with a four-run seventh frame, moving the score to 10-7. McDaniel responded in the bottom of the inning with a lead-off single to left, followed by a two-run Nolan Williams homer to bring the Cru within one of the Scots. UMHB knotted the game back up in the bottom of the eighth with Chris Perez crossing the plate on a Macalester error, heading into the ninth with a score of 10-10. The Scots took over the lead again in the top of the frame, scoring four to move the score to 14-10. The Cru were unable to fight back, dropping the first game of the day.
The Cru totaled five homeruns and two doubles. Taylor McDaniel and Nolan Williams tallied three hits, with Williams adding two RBI, along with Braden Fuentes, who added three. Carter Kammlah started on the mound, going five complete innings with six strikeouts.
After a one-run first from the Scots, Riley Bender broke through for the Cru with an RBI single to score Jacob Newland, who reached previously on a left-field single. Bender later scored on a Nolan Williams single before Tyler Martin hit a sacrifice fly to score Taylor McDaniel. Williams rounded out the four-run inning by stealing home, giving the Cru a 4-1 lead. Macalester got two back in the second, but UMHB rallied, adding three in the bottom of the inning off a Jacob Newland double and an Easton Cline home run. The Scots added another in the third before the Cru answered with three to end the inning with singles from Tyler Martin, Austin Birkhoff, and Jacob Newland. UMHB extended the lead by three more in the fourth with singles from Martin and Williams, moving the score to 13-4. The Cru added two more in the fifth, before the Scots put up three in the top of the sixth inning to make it a 15-7 ballgame. Easton Cline closed out the game with a run-rule walk-off single to score Nolan Williams, securing the 17-7 win for the Cru in seven innings.
Jacob Newland, Nolan Williams, and Tyler Martin tallied three hits each in the matchup. Austin Birkhoff and Easton Cline added three RBI each, while Williams scored four runs. Zach Hampton earned the win on the mound, pitching two complete innings.
UMHB returns to action in Houston on Tuesday, March 3rd, in a 6:00pm contest against the University of St. Thomas (TX).
