Belton, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor baseball team made it interesting in both games but could not get over the hump in either game as the Cru lost a pair of games on the second day of the Central Texas Weekend Saturday in Belton. UMHB fell to Whitworth 8-6 to open the day before losing an 11-9 decision to Piedmont College to close out the day. The Cru is now 0-4 to start the season.
UMHB opened the day with an 8-6 loss to Whitworth University. Dakota Parsons blasted a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning, Cody Stone added an RBI double and Matt Mazoch singled home Stone to make it 4-0 Cru after one. The Pirates added a single run in the third and tied the game with a three-run fourth. Zach Thibault's two-run homer was the biggest hit of that frame. Riley Davis' RBI double gave UMHB a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the fourth before Matthew Nelson doubled home two runs in the top of the seventh to give the Pirates a 6-5 lead. Davis tied the game with an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth. Whitworth scored the game-winner on a wild pitch in the top of the ninth and added an insurance run on an RBI groundout. Cory Farr took the loss for the Cru and Mathew Pulliam earned the win for the Pirates. Seth Martin had the first four-hit game of his collegiate career for UMHB and Jeremy Druffel had three hits for Whitworth.
The Cru fell to Piedmont 11-9 in the day's nightcap. UMHB put four on the board in the bottom of the second inning. Mazoch's RBI fielder's choice opened the scoring, Martin singled home a run and Davis singled home two more. The Lions scored one in the third and four more in the fourth to take a 5-4 lead. Scott Stephens singled home two runs and Chase Burrow added an RBI single to give the Cru a 7-5 lead in the bottom of the fourth. Piedmont retook the lead with a three-run sixth inning before UMHB tied the game at eight on a run-scoring error in the bottom of that inning. The Lions erupted for another three-spot in the top of the seventh to make it 11-8. Parsons led off the bottom of the ninth with a solo homer to cut it to the final margin. Burrow had three hits to lead the Cru and Davis and Parsons added two hits apiece. Jackson Godoy took the loss for UMHB. Zach Langley drove in six runs for Piedmont and Matt Vonderschmidt earned the win for the Lions.
The Cru will close out the Central Texas Weekend with a 1:00 PM single game against Pacific University on Sunday. UMHB will then host Trinity University for a 6:00 PM single game Tuesday night to close out a stretch of six home games in five days.