BELTON, Texas — The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor baseball team earned two wins over Howard Payne to open conference play on Thursday. With these wins, the Cru's record improves to 21-9 on the season with a 2-0 mark in league action, while the Yellow Jackets fall to 13-15 (0-2).

UMHB took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning when Easton Cline scored on a Nolan Williams RBI single. The Cru extended the deficit in the second after Austin Birkhoff led off with a single up the middle, followed by Jasson Hemmerling Jr., who reached on a walk. Tyler Martin pushed both runners across the plate with a two-RBI single, later scoring on a Cameron Talburt stand-up double, taking the score to 4-0.

The three-run bottom of the third opened with three straight singles from Williams, Landon Pyles, and Austin Birkhoff, with the Cru plating one. Martin added his second RBI single to left, scoring Pyles. Talburt rounded out the scoring in the frame with a sacrifice fly to score Birkhoff, extending the Cru's lead to 7-0. The Yellow Jackets got one back in the top of the fourth. This closed out scoring for game one, with UMHB taking the 7-1 conference win.

Tyler Martin led the Cru offensively with three hits in three at-bats, tallying three RBI, one run scored, and three stolen bases. Nolan Williams and Austin Birkhoff each went two-for-three at the plate with one RBI, while Cameron Talburt added two RBI.

Alex Hill earned the win on the mound, pitching a complete game with four strikeouts, giving up just three hits and one earned run.

After two scoreless innings in game two, UMHB struck first in the bottom of the third when Cameron Talburt doubled to right, scoring Austin Birkhoff and Jacob Newland to take a 2-0 lead. UMHB added one run in the fifth and sixth innings, on a Cameron Talburt triple and a sacrifice fly from Austin Birkhoff, to extend the lead to 4-0. In the bottom of the seventh, Cline singled up the middle to score Talburt, who reached on a bunt single, making it a 5-0 game. UMHB sealed the win with a three-run eighth inning to take an 8-0 victory.

Cameron Talburt went three-for-four at the plate with a double and a triple, tallying three RBI and one run scored. Landon Pyles and Jacob Newland each tabbed two hits. Pyles put up one RBI while Newland scored two runs.

Cole Morkovsky earned a complete-game shutout, giving up just six hits in 31 batters faced with no earned runs allowed.

UMHB returns to action at Red Murff Field on Friday, April 10th, with a 2:00pm first pitch to continue the series against Howard Payne.