Belton, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor baseball team rallied in the ninth inning but could not overcome two defensive lapses in game two as the Cru settled for a doubleheader split with Sul Ross State Thursday in Belton. UMHB won game one 2-1 before falling 7-3 in game two. The Cru is now 10-13 overall on the year and has a 5-6 record in American Southwest Conference play following the split. Sul Ross moves to 12-11 overall and 5-3 in the ASC on the year.
The Cru edged the Lobos 2-1 in a game one pitcher's duel. UMHB grabbed a 1-0 lead on a throwing error in the bottom of the third inning. Sul Ross tied it up on Kleat Smith's RBI double in the top of the fourth. Scott Stephens drove in the go-ahead run with an RBI single in the bottom of that frame, but UMHB had an insurance run thrown out at the plate. The Cru put a pair of runners on base in the bottom of the sixth but were unable to add a run. The Lobos had two singles in the top of the seventh, but Cory Farr ended it with a groundout to notch his eighth save of the season and set a new UMHB Division III era single-season record in that category. Connor Heussner earned the win to move to 2-2 after giving up just one run on six hits in five innings of work. Cody Stone and Will Stafford had two hits apiece for the Cru. Jeremy Martinez took the loss for Sul Ross to fall to 1-1 despite giving up just one earned run in six innings. Wesley Moss had three hits and Eli Gallego added two more for the Lobos.
The Lobos jumped out to an early lead and then held off UMHB's late rally on the way to a 7-3 win in game two. Johnny Campos singled home a run in the top of the third inning to give Sul Ross a 1-0 lead. Eli Gallego added an RBI double and scored on a pair of wild pitches to make it 3-0 Lobos in the top of the sixth. A Cru throwing error led to another run in the top of the eighth inning and the Lobos took advantage of another Cru error to key a three-run top of the ninth to make it a 7-0 Sul Ross lead. UMHB rallied in the bottom of the ninth when Chase Burrow doubled home two runs and scored on a passed ball, but that's as close as the Cru would get. Dakota Parsons had three hits and Burrow and Seth Martin added two hits, but no other UMHB player managed a hit in the game. Seth Hill took the loss to fall to 2-4 on the year. Gallego scattered seven hits and allowed just one earned run in a complete-game performance to raise his record to 5-2 on the year. He also had two hits and drove in two runs for the Lobos.
The two teams will close out the series with a 1:00 PM single game on Friday. UMHB will then play a three-game series at McMurry University next weekend in Abilene.