BELTON, Texas – After weather delays on Thursday, the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and No. 20/23 faced off in the final American Southwest Conference series of the year with a double header. UMHB's pitching shut down ETBU's strong offense taking the first double header, 5-4 and 6-4. ETBU is now 24-13 and 10-4 in the ASC.
ETBU has to win one game on Saturday to clinch the ASC regular season championship and host. If they win one, they tie for the championship and if they take two, they win the championship outright.
Game 1
UMHB 5, ETBU 4
ETBU started strong with
Luke Finn hitting a solo home run, followed by
Joaquin Costa's double.
Hunter Rumachik's groundout drove in Costa, giving the Tigers a 2-0 lead. However, Mary Hardin-Baylor quickly responded in the bottom of the first, scoring three runs on four hits to take a 3-2 lead. The Tigers'
Luke Bumpus tied the game in the third with an RBI single after stealing second base. ETBU added another run in the seventh inning through
Carson Livesay's single and Bumpus's RBI single, narrowing the deficit to 5-4. Despite their efforts, Mary Hardin-Baylor's defense held firm to secure the win.
Matthew Irwin took the loss going three innings and giving up four earned runs with one strikeout. Bumpus was 4-of-4 with one RBI.
Top Performers
Luke Bumpus
- 4 hits
- 1 RBI
- 1 stolen base
Hunter Rumachik
- 2 RBIs
- 1 hit
Luke Finn
- 1 home run
- 1 hit
- 1 run scored
Game 2
UMHB 6, ETBU 4
ETBU again took an early lead with Bumpus and
Ben Lea hitting back-to-back singles and a double, respectively. Will Howard's two-RBI single and Costa's two-RBI double put ETBU ahead 4-0 after the first inning. Mary Hardin-Baylor began their comeback in the fourth with a solo home run. By the seventh inning, they had cut the lead to 4-3, scoring on an RBI single and a double. In the eighth, UMHB hit a three-run home run, giving them a 6-4 lead. The Tigers were unable to respond in the final innings, leading to the second defeat.
Carson Speegle took the loss going 0.2 innings giving up the home run.
Jagger Neely started going five innings recording eight strikeouts with one earned run. Bumpus, Lea, Howard, and Costa all had two hits.
Top Performers
Will Howard
- 2 hits
- 2 RBIs
- 1 sacrifice hit
Joaquin Costa
- 2 hits
- 2 RBIs
- 1 double
Luke Bumpus
- 2 hits
- 1 run scored
- .800 OPS
Ben Lea
- 2 hits
- 1 double
- 1 run scored
The two teams will finish the regular season with a double header at 1:00 p.m. in Belton.
