The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor softball team split a doubleheader with Concordia Texas Friday afternoon in Belton, beating the Tornados 5-3 before dropping the second game 10-7. UMHB moved to 12-7 on the season and 7-4 in American Southwest Conference action while the Tornados went to 7-8 overall and 6-6 in league play.
The first contest remained scoreless until the top of the fourth inning when Haley Dennett hit an RBI single to score Brittani Whitten and put the Tornados up 1-0. Concordia Texas extended that lead in the top of the fifth, scoring two runs off a two-RBI single from Anissa Garcia. UMHB responded in the bottom of that inning, scoring four runs to take a 4-3 lead over the Tornados. Avery Kelly scored first off an RBI single from Makenzi Dawson before Whitney Flournoy and Kourtney Cummings scored on back-to-back walks. Dawson was the final base runner to score, reaching off a sacrifice fly by Dusti Douglas. Avery Kelly gave the Cru some insurance in the bottom of the sixth inning, hitting a solo shot to left field for a 5-3 UMHB lead and win. Dawson and Kelly were the only Crusaders to record hits in the contest while Kelly also led the Cru with two runs. Hannah Halepaska earned the win in the circle for UMHB, pitching six innings with seven hits and three runs allowed. Karen Tennis earned the save for UMHB, retiring all three batters in the top of the seventh. Jorden Russell took the loss for the Tornados, pitching four innings with one hit and four runs allowed. UMHB totaled five runs on two hits with no errors while the Tornados had three runs on seven hits with one error.
The Tornados used a strong third inning to take a 6-0 lead over the Cru in the second contest. Anissa Garcia opened with a two-RBI single to score Kayla Patton and Taylor Smith. Whitten scored next on an RBI from Summer Harper before Payton Walker hit a three-RBI triple. UMHB scored two runs in the bottom of that inning off a sacrifice fly from Linsey Tomlinson and an RBI single from Whitney Flournoy. Tomlinson followed that with a three-RBI home run in the bottom of the fourth inning to cut the Tornados' lead to one. Concordia Texas scored four more runs in the top of the sixth inning to take a 10-5 lead on the Cru. Kourtney Cummings hit a two-RBI single up the middle in the bottom of the sixth inning to cut the lead to three runs. The seventh inning remained scoreless, securing the 10-7 win for the Tornados. Kasi Cummings led the Cru with two hits while Kourtney Cummings had a team-high two-RBI. CeCe Darilek started in the circle for UMHB, pitching 2.2 innings with six hits and six runs allowed. Karen Tennis took the loss, pitching 2.2 innings with five hits and three runs allowed. Simone Langland earned the win for the Tornados, pitching four innings with five hits and five runs allowed. UMHB totaled seven runs on nine hits with three errors while the Tornados had 10 runs on 13 hits with three errors.
