Photo: Carson Hagan (right) helped UMHB baseball to a 15-3 victory on Tuesday evening, with a 2-for-3 performance highlighted by three runs scored (Photo by Bob Sanford)
HOUSTON–A dominant offensive performance highlighted a 15-3 victory over St. Thomas (TX) on Tuesday night for the UMHB baseball team, who continued its hot start to the 2024 season with a seventh consecutive victory.
It marked UMHB’s first road win of the season, as The Cru is now 7-0 and remains the only team in the American Southwest Conference who still holds a perfect record. This is longest winning streak to start a season for the program since 2008, when the Crusaders opened the year with 10 consecutive victories.
Tuesday night’s offensive output also held significance as it is UMHB’s highest-scoring performance since a 24-7 win over Concordia on April 9, 2022. This performance also marks the seventh game in which UMHB has tallied 15 or more runs under head coach Mike Stawski, who is in his fifth season.
“Our mentality is off the charts right now,” Stawski said after the win. “We just came off a tough conference series, are now playing a non conference game, in Houston…and our guys couldn’t wait to play! That’s the separator right now; my guys love competing and can’t wait to do it again tomorrow!”
Four Crusaders tallied two hits apiece in the victory, including Rhett Grosz, who tallied a team-high three RBIs, and Carson Hagan, who scored a team-best three runs. Grosz is now batting .500 on the season, with 14 hits and 12 RBIs, both team-highs.
Grosz led the scoring off with a second-inning solo home run after UST took a 1-0 lead in the bottom half of the first. That homer sparked an offensive surge from The Cru, who took a 2-1 lead on a Carson Riley RBI single later in the inning. UMHB kept the momentum going in the third, fourth, and fifth innings, scoring four runs apiece, as the lead swelled to 14-1.
The Crusaders then tacked on a final run in the seventh after the Celts pushed two across in the sixth, as Kyle Hogwood tallied the first RBI of his UMHB career on a double to left field that brought Staton Dudley across the plate.
Eight errors against UST certainly contributed to UMHB’s dominant offensive effort, as just eight of the Celts’ 15 runs were earned. Seven runs came as the result of errors, as The Cru took advantage of the miscues and pulled away quickly.
Stawski noted that the top six in the lineup have been finding consistent success at the plate, but the hitters in the 7, 8, and 9 spots also stepped up against the Celts. That combination was significant in paving the way to UMHB’s back-to-back-to-back four-run innings.
“Our 1-6 has been really locked in,” Stawski said. “Typically, you are hoping that a few guys in the lineup are good, to have that many in a row is tough on any opponent. I say all that, and I think our 7-8-9 had 5 hits tonight.”
While the hitting highlighted the win, UMHB’s pitching was equally as solid, with Keegan Symons, Jackson Keenan, and Cameron Bogan combined to limit UST to just six hits, while only walking one batter.
Symons, a senior, picked up the first win of his career, firing 5.0 innings with just one earned run and six strikeouts. He navigated the UST lineup especially well, with the exception of three hit batters, and did not walk a batter.
“I’m really proud of Keegan,” Stawski said postgame. “That was 3 years of hard work and paying his dues to get that opportunity. He was a little nervous in the 1st [inning] which was expected, but after that, he was locked in. I am excited for him. He’s obviously excited. But his teammates are the most excited for him!”
Game Notes
- UMHB remains undefeated against St. Thomas, having won all three meetings with the Celts. The two programs met for the first time last season, and UMHB has outscored UST, 29-4, within those three contests.
- The Crusaders tallied four doubles in the victory, marking a season-high in that category. Hogwood, Hagan, Kaden deBerardinis, and Riley Bender each recorded one.
- UMHB tallied 10 or more RBIs for the third time this season, and tallied 10 for the second time in the last four games.
- UMHB now has 58 RBIs in the season’s first seven games.
- The win improves UMHB’s non-conference record to 4-0, with The Cru’s next non-league tilt coming on March 5 at Trinity (TX).
- UMHB’s .386 batting average ranks within the Top 10 nationally in Division III.
- Drake Herrera and Kyle Hogwood each tallied their first hits of the 2024 season on Tuesday night.
- The offensive performance marks the first time that UMHB has recorded consecutive four-run innings since May 8, 2022 in the ASC Tournament against ETBU. Per research done by True To The Cru, this is also the first time since April 22, 2022 that the Crusaders have posted three consecutive multi-run innings.
Up Next
UMHB resumes conference play in Brownwood, Texas, visiting Howard Payne (5-4, 2-1 ASC) for a three-game ASC series beginning on Friday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. CT. A doubleheader on Saturday is set for 12:00 p.m. CT.
One Reply to “#CruWin | UMHB Baseball overpowers St. Thomas in midweek road victory”