BELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor softball team split a Friday doubleheader with Hardin-Simmons University, taking the 3-1 series win. The Cru moved to 18-16 on the season with a 3-3 American Southwest Conference record while the Cowgirls went to 15-7 with a 1-3 mark in league play.  
 
Hardin-Simmons took a first-inning lead in the opener but UMHB responded, scoring Shorey Nguyen off an error in the bottom of the frame. UMHB added two more runs in the third inning off a two-RBI single from Ryleigh Mills. The Cru added two more runs off RBI hits from Jordan Iverson and Vic Shimabukuro for a 5-2 lead after six innings. Ella Gamblin closed the game in the circle, throwing a shutout seventh inning for a 5-2 win.
 
Beth Ann Johnston earned the win in the circle, throwing six innings with two strikeouts. Nguyen led the Cru offense with three hits and three runs scored while Ryleigh Mills added two RBI. UMHB had five runs on 11 hits with two errors while the Cowgirls had two runs on eight hits with one error.
 
The Cowgirls took another one-run lead in the first and added another in the fourth for a 2-0 lead after four innings. Hardin-Simmons added three more runs in the fifth off an error and a two-run home run from Ella Salinas to extend the gap to five runs. UMHB answered, plating one run off an RBI fielder's choice in the bottom of that inning but went scoreless in the sixth, keeping the margin at four runs en route to the 5-1 HSU win.
 
Bralyn Belk and Brielle Moreland had the lone hits for the Cru while Vic Shimabukuro recorded the RBI and Ava Jolley scored the Cru's run. Alli Dafoe took the loss, throwing four innings with two runs allowed while Chloe Booth added three innings of work. UMHB totaled one run on two hits with three errors while the Cowgirls had five runs on six hits.
 
UMHB returns to action on Saturday, April 18th in a 12 p.m. doubleheader at East Texas Baptist University in Marshall.