BELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor baseball team dropped a pair of contests at the East Texas Baptist University Spring Classic Saturday in Marshall. The losses dropped the Cru to 16-8 on the season.
UMHB took a one-run lead against Texas Lutheran in the second inning, scoring
Taylor McDaniel off an RBI single from
Austin Birkhoff. The Bulldogs answered in the bottom of that frame, scoring five runs on six hits. UMHB added one more run in the third, scoring
Easton Cline on a sacrifice fly from
Nolan Williams.
The Cru offense took over in the fourth inning, scoring five runs.
Cameron Talburt reached on a hit-by-pitch before Cline walked.
Riley Bender hit a single to score Talburt before McDaniel and Williams hit back-to-back home runs, giving the Cru a 7-5 lead. The Bulldogs added a single run in the fourth but a
Tyler Martin home run in the fifth, followed by an RBI single from McDaniel extended the margin to four runs.
Both teams added single-run innings in the sixth before the Bulldogs exploded for four seventh-inning runs to tie the game at 11. Williams answered with another home run in the top of the eighth to put the Cru back on top but Texas Lutheran answered again, scoring two runs for a 13-12 lead. UMHB put one runner on in the ninth but the Bulldogs got out of the inning, sealing the 13-12 win.
Taylor McDaniel led the Cru with three hits and four RBI while
Easton Cline scored a team-high three runs.
Nolan Williams and
Tyler Martin both added three RBI with Williams and McDaniel each scoring two runs.
UMHB threw five pitchers in the contest.
Zach Hampton opened the game with 3.2 innings of work and six hits allowed.
Carter Kammlah threw for two innings while
Mason Semmelmann,
Michael Doucet and
Gavin Oliver all combined for 2.1 innings. The Cru totaled 12 runs on 14 hits while the Bulldogs had 13 runs on 14 hits.
Wooster got on the board first in the second game off a two-RBI home run.
Nolan Williams answered with a homerun for the Cru before the Scots got the run back off an error in the second.
Cameron Talburt homered next, sending one over the left field wall to cut the gap to one run.
The Scots added two more runs in the fourth before another Crusader home run, this one from
Tyler Martin, cut the lead back down to two. Wooster responded with two home runs in the fifth for a 9-3 lead.
UMHB answered in the seventh, pulling within two with four runs scored. Talburt scored on an RBI from
Riley Bender before
Taylor McDaniel doubled to score
Easton Cline.
Nolan Williams followed that with a triple, scoring McDaniel before a sacrifice fly from
Braden Fuentes plated Williams. Bender hit a two-RBI home run in the eighth to tie the game at nine but the Scots answered, scoring Owen Sherrill on a sacrifice fly for a 10-9 win.
Talburt led the Cru with three hits while Williams and Martin each added two. Talburt, Williams and Martin also scored a team-high two runs each while Bender added three RBI.
Reid Davis pitched four innings on the mound, giving up five runs and three earned runs.
Patrick Reyes,
Jacob Haynes and
Gavin Oliver all threw in relief. UMHB totaled nine runs on 11 hits with three errors while the Scots had 10 runs on 11 hits with one error.
UMHB returns to action on Tuesday, March 24
th in a 6 p.m. contest against the University of St. Thomas (Texas) at Red Murff Field in Belton.
