BELTON, Texas – University of Mary Hardin-Baylor baseball opened a three-game series against La Verne with a 14-2 win Friday night in Belton. The win improved the Cru to 14-5 while the Leopards moved to 9-6.
 
La Verne took a one-run lead in the first inning, but UMHB tied it in the second off an RBI single from Austin Birkhoff. The Cru added two more runs off a two-RBI double from Tyler Martin, scoring Birkhoff and Jacob Newland. Jasson Hemmerling, Jr. followed with a run on a bases-loaded walk before Cameron Talburt, Martin and Riley Bender all reached home on an error, giving UMHB a 7-1 advantage after two.
 
The Cru extended that lead in the third, scoring two more runs off a double from Talburt. The Leopards added another single-run frame in the fourth before the Cru added three more runs in the fifth off back-to-back homeruns from Martin and Talburt. McDaniel homered in the sixth, extending the lead to 11 before a Birkhoff single scored Nolan Williams for a 14-2 lead.
 
UMHB's defense held off the Leopards in the seventh, ending the game in a 14-2 UMHB win. Talburt and Birkhoff led the Cru with three hits each while Martin tallied a team-high four RBI and a team-high three runs. Alex Hill earned the win on the mound, throwing five innings with three hits and two runs allowed. Hill recorded six strikeouts in his Friday night outing. Carter Kammlah pitched in relief, giving up just one hit with one strikeout in two innings of work.
 
The Cru totaled 14 runs on 14 hits with one error while the Leopards had two runs on four hits with three errors. The series continues on Saturday, March 14th in 1 p.m. doubleheader at Red Murff Field in Belton.