The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor baseball team rallied in the later innings, but could not overcome Trinity's four-run sixth inning as the Tigers topped the Cru 9-6 Tuesday evening in Belton. UMHB drops to 2-5 on the season with the loss. Trinity improves to 6-0 on the year with the victory.
The Tigers scored a run in the top of the first and added two more in the top of the third inning to build a 3-0 lead. Landon Dieterich's RBI single cut the gap to 3-1 in the bottom of the third and Austin Blanford scored on a throwing error to make it a 3-2 game in the bottom of the fourth. A bases-loaded walk stretched Trinity's lead to 4-2 in the fifth before the Tigers put four on the board in the top of the sixth. Parker Cormack's two-run double was the biggest hit in that frame. Hunter McQuary singled home two runs in the bottom of the sixth to pull the Cru to within 8-4. The Tigers tacked on an insurance run in the top of the ninth before Max Conway's bloop single plated two runs in the bottom of the ninth for UMHB to cut it to the final margin.
Dieterich, Riley Davis and McQuary all had two hits for the Cru and Conway and McQuary drove in two runs apiece. Bailey Whatley took the loss for UMHB to go to 0-1 on the season. Rafe Chaumette led the Trinity offense with four hits and two RBI. Jake Martin added three hits and two RBI for the Tigers. Brendan Meyer struck out eight over five innings to raise his record to 2-0 for Trinity and Kevin Flores notched his first save in relief.
UMHB will return to action with the start of American Southwest Conference action this weekend. The Cru will play a three-game ASC series at Belhaven University in Jackson, Mississippi. The two teams will open that series with a Friday doubleheader before closing out the weekend with a single-game on Saturday.
