Georgetown, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor baseball team saw an early lead slip away, but the Cru pushed across the game-winning run in the top of the ninth inning on the way to an 11-10 victory over Southwestern University Tuesday night in Georgetown. UMHB improves to 10-2 on the season with the victory. The loss drops the Pirates to 4-15 on the year.
The game would be tied at 10-10 entering the top of the ninth inning before Rob Loewe drew a one-out walk. Loewe advanced to third on a failed pickoff attempt and scored on K.J. Stark's sacrifice fly to put the Cru up 11-10. Aaron Barteau struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth to earn the victory for UMHB to raise his record to 3-0 on the year.
The Cru grabbed the lead on Loewe's RBI single in the top of the first inning. Dakota Parsons added an RBI single in the top of the second to make it 2-0, but Southwestern cut it to 2-1 in the bottom of that inning. Stark tripled home a run and scored on an error to give UMHB a 4-1 lead in the third and Zack Whiddon scored on a passed ball to give the Cru a 5-1 lead in the fourth. Tripp Reeves drew a bases loaded walk and Stark scored on a wild pitch in the fifth and Reeves doubled home two more in the sixth. Southwestern matched UMHB's output in the fourth, fifth and sixth, making it a 9-6 game going to the seventh. The Pirates closed to 9-8 before Parsons' bases loaded walk in the eight gave UMHB a 10-8 lead. Southwestern scored two in the bottom of the eight to tie the game and set up Loewe and Barteau's heroics in the ninth inning.
Loewe led the Cru's 13-hit attack with three hits and Parsons, Whiddon and Stark added two hits apiece. Barteau was the last of six UMHB pitchers and he struck out five in one and two-thirds innings of hitless relief work. Carl Mueller took the loss for Southwestern and Charlie St. Clair had three of the Pirates' 12 hits in the game.
The Cru will now return home to host Mississippi College for a three-game, American Southwest Conference series this weekend. The two teams will play a 3:00 PM doubleheader on Friday before closing out the weekend with a 1:00 PM single game on Saturday at Red Murff Field.