Photo credit: Bob Sanford
SAN ANTONIO, Texas–UMHB pushed its way further in the national conversation on Tuesday night.
As a team that received votes in the most recent D3baseball.com Top 25 Poll, The Cru traveled south for a midweek non-conference duel and came away with its first victory over a Top 25 opponent this season, downing 17th-ranked Trinity, 6-3.
It marks UMHB’s second-straight win over the Tigers in San Antonio, as the Crusaders previously earned a 4-3 victory on March 28, 2023.
“I keep saying it,” UMHB head coach Mike Stawski said postgame. “This team loves to play and compete. They don’t care about a bus ride or a late game. They are just juiced to play. They’d play another one tonight if they could. That mentality makes us tough as an opponent.
“We have a lot of respect for Trinity. We try to emulate a lot of what they do, so going into their park and getting a win feels that much better.”
Cameron Talburt’s 3-for-4 day at the plate led the way, as the transfer from Eastern Oklahoma State College continues to make an immediate impact. A junior outfielder, Talburt is now hitting .314, and tallied just his second multi-hit performance of the season as he made his 11th straight start.
Batting second in the order, Talburt singled in the top of the first, stole second base, and came around to score one batter later on Carson Hagan’s well-placed single up the middle. It put UMHB ahead 1-0, and in the third inning, Talburt and Hagan recorded back-to-back singles once again. A sac fly from Rhett Grosz to deep right field allowed Talburt to tag and score from third, as the visitors from Belton took a 2-0 lead.
“He was great all day,” Stawski said of Talburt. “[It was] no surprise as he was seeing the ball so well this past weekend, and was just getting anything to fall. We moved him to the No. 2 spot [in the lineup] for a reason, and tonight he made the coaching staff look good!”
The fourth-inning proved to be key, with three runs coming across in the top of the frame. WIth Carson Riley on first and Easton Cline on second, Blake Gonzalez came through with a single to center field, scoring Cline as Riley raced to third. The throw from Trinity center fielder Jack Peterson was on point, but nobody was even in the vicinity to receive it as the ball bounced into the Tiger dugout, allowing Riley to also score. Gonzalez, who advanced to second on the throw to third, moved up to third base on the error, and scored one batter later on an RBI groundout from Tyler Betts.
Five pitchers combined to hold Trinity to a season-low hit total, as the Tigers recorded just two hits on the evening. By comparison, coming into the matchup, the fewest hits in a game for Trinity this season was five.
Quint Mullen got The Cru off to a solid start with two three-up, three-down innings highlighted by three strikeouts for the Cedar Park native. Erick Roberts, who earned the win, walked two batters but did not surrender a hit in one inning of relief, and Mason Semmelman turned in a productive 2.2 innings, allowing three runs, though none were earned, and came about as the result of an error. Cameron Bogan added 2.1 innings and Nick Fenner sealed the win with a scoreless ninth inning, picking up his first save of 2024.
Game Notes
- UMHB has now reached the 10-win mark faster than any other team in the ASC this season, with ETBU and UT-Dallas each holding nine wins apiece currently.
- With the Crusaders’ five non-conference wins through this season, UMHB extends its win streak against non-conference opponents to 10 straight games dating back to a 6-1 win on March 14, 2023 at St. Thomas (TX).
- UMHB had 10 hits in the victory over Trinity, marking the ninth game in 2024 in which The Cru has posted a double-digit hit total.
- The two hits allowed by the Crusader pitching staff is the fewest given up in a single game through all 11 contests thus far.
- The five pitchers used also combined for 11 strikeouts, which is the second-most for UMHB in a single game in 2024 and just the third double-digit strikeout performance of this season.
- The lone extra-base hit recorded for The Cru came in the ninth inning off the bat of Rhett Grosz, as the senior first baseman swatted a double off the left field wall. Tuesday’s win is the first instance this season in which UMHB has won a game with one or fewer extra-base hits.
- UMHB is now 4-1 on the road this season. This is the first time since the 2014 season in which The Cru has won at least four of its first five true road games.
Up Next
UMHB continues non-conference play this weekend as Schreiner makes the trip to Belton for a three-game series, starting with Friday’s 6 p.m. matchup followed by a 12 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday. The Mountaineers (4-10) rank in the Top 10 nationally in total hits this season, but are just 1-4 on the road.
