Belton, TX – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor baseball team kept DeSales off the scoreboard and generated just enough offense to take advantage as the Cru posted a 3-0 victory over the Bulldogs Monday night in Belton. UMHB improves to 5-7 on the year with the victory. The loss drops DeSales to 1-2 on the season.
The game was scoreless into the bottom of the sixth inning before UMHB grabbed the lead with a pair of unearned runs. Chris Florack was hit by a one-out pitch and then raced to third on a failed pickoff throw at first. He scored on Seth Mogavero's bloop double to centerfield. Mogavero would score from second base on another fielding error to give the Cru a 2-0 lead. The Bulldogs put runners on second and third with one out in the top of the eighth, but Trey Swartzenberg struck out the next two hitters to work out of the jam. UMHB added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth when Florack singled, stole second, moved to third on a groundout and scored on Garrett Webb's RBI single. Swartzenberg closed it out in the ninth to nail down his first save of the season.
Ian Ekery picked up the win to move to 2-0 for the Cru. Ekery scattered five hits, struck out three and walked two in six innings of shutout work. Florack scored two of UMHB's three runs as both teams were held to five hits. Eric Dillard took the loss despite giving up just three hits and no earned runs in six innings of work for DeSales. Brian Mauro had two of the Bulldogs' five hits in the game.
UMHB will continue its home stand with a 3:00 PM non-conference doubleheader against Robert Morris on Wednesday. The Cru will then open American Southwest Conference West Division play with a three-game home series against Texas Lutheran University this weekend.