BELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor softball team swept a Friday doubleheader with Southwestern University, dropping game one 5-3 before earning a 9-1 victory in game two. UMHB moved to 7-9 on the season with the split.
 
Southwestern scored three runs in the first inning and held that margin until the bottom of the third when Addy Todd scored on a throwing error. Southwestern added solo run frames in the fourth and fifth innings but UMHB answered, scoring a fifth-inning run off an RBI single from Macy Alewine.
 
UMHB mounted another scoring offense in the sixth, scoring Sabrina Morgan off an Ava Jolley single. The Cru loaded the bases in that inning but a popup limited the scoring to just one and ended the contest with a 5-3 loss.
 
Ava Jolley led the Cru with two hits while eight other Crusaders each added one. Nguyen, Todd and Morgan all tallied runs with Alewine and Jolly adding RBI. Madelyn Denn took the loss for the Cru, giving up three runs on three hits. Ella Gamblin pitched 5.2 innings in relief, surrendering two runs on six hits while Alli Dafoe threw one shutout frame.
 
UMHB totaled three runs on 10 hits with one error while the Pirates had five runs on 10 hits with two errors.
 
Ryleigh Mills drove in Nguyen with an RBI single in the bottom of the first inning in game two, giving the Cru its first lead of the day. Mills then came around to score on an Angelina Rodriguez at-bat, putting UMHB up by two.
 
Beth Ann Johnston threw perfect frames in the second and fourth innings. The Pirates scored one in the fifth and loaded the bases but Johnston pitched around it, holding the Cru's one-run lead. UMHB tacked on two more runs in the fifth, scoring Nguyen on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch and Todd on a wild pitch.
 
The Cru added five runs in the sixth inning to seal the 9-1 win. Jordan Iverson scored on an RBI from Nguyen before Ava Perlinger stole home. Addy Todd and Brielle Moreland followed with back-to-back RBI doubles with Shimabukuro plating the final run off a single from Bralyn Belk.
 
Mills led the Cru with three hits while four other Crusaders each added one. Nguyen led the team with three runs while Mills had the lead with two RBI. Beth Ann Johnston earned the win in the circle, throwing six innings with just five hits allowed. UMHB totaled nine runs on 14 hits with one error while the Pirates had one run on five hits with one error.
 
UMHB returns to action on Tuesday, March 10^th in a 4 p.m. doubleheader against Huston Tillotson University at Dee Dillon Field in Belton.