Series Recap: UMHB Baseball now 9-0 at home for the first time in The Cru's D-III history

Photo from Saturday’s doubleheader sweep over Schreiner by Luke Zayas/True To The Cru

BELTON, Texas—The Crusaders keep rolling on.

UMHB baseball swept Schreiner in its third series sweep of 2024 on Saturday, taking down the Mountaineers in non-conference play as the historic start to the season continues to unfold. UMHB is now 13-1 overall, and a perfect 9-0 at Red Murff Field, reaching unprecedented heights within the first month of the 2024 campaign.

Waking up this morning 1⃣3⃣-1⃣@crubaseball is on fire and swept Schreiner in its doubleheader yesterday afternoon in Belton! UMHB is 13-1 overall and in contention to be nationally-ranked this week.

📸: @luke_zayas pic.twitter.com/xOMvGxckNS
— True To The Cru (@TrueToTheCru) March 10, 2024

The Cru, who went 14-21 last season, is now just one win away from tying last year’s overall win total. Additionally, it marks the first time in the program’s D-III history that UMHB has won its first nine home games of the season, surpassing the previous win streak of seven straight to open the 2008 campaign. The 13-1 record is also the most wins through 14 games since UMHB joined D-III, as the 2008 team began 10-0 before dropping two straight to Ozarks.

The historical signficance continues to be an impressive storyline in the midst of the hot start, which includes four consecutive series victories over Austin College, Concordia (TX), Howard Payne, and Schreiner. A non-conference win at No. 17 Trinity (TX) in San Antonio on Tuesday of this past week only strengthens The Cru’s overall resume, as UMHB looks to break into the D3baseball.com/NCBWA Top 25 Poll. The Crusaders earned three points in the Week 2 poll, but beat a nationally-ranked program on the record in addition to sweeping a Schreiner team that has tallied the second-most hits in the country this season (173).

UMHB has climbed in the national statistics as well, improving to 11th in D-III in batting average (.372), fourth in hits (172), fifth in stolen bases (41), and 10th in runs (123). The pitching staff, whose contributions have been key, is second in the country in strikeout-to-walk ratio, at 4.40. With 1.93 walks allowed per nine innings, the Crusaders also rank No. 2 in that category, with one of the lowest numbers in the country. It is a testament to the consistency and accuracy around the strike zone of UMHB’s pitchers.

Series Notes

Rhett Grosz continued his tear at the plate, and is now hitting .527 on the season. The first baseman went 7-for-10 at the plate against Schreiner, leading UMHB offensively in all three victories. That included a 4-for-5 performance with 2 RBIs in Friday’s series opener.
- Grosz leads the ASC in batting average, hits, doubles, and RBIs (tied for 1st).
Carson Hagan tallied a pair of two-hit performances in Saturday’s doubleheader, going 2-for-4 with two runs in a 6-5 win followed by a 2-for-3 day in the series finale; a 9-4 win.
- Hagan has hit safely in 13 of UMHB’s 14 games this season.
- Hagan leads UMHB in stolen bases, and is 11-for-11 on stolen base attempts this season. He was one of four players who recorded a stolen base in the 9-4 victory in game three.
Quint Mullen picked up the first win of his career in the series’ second game, firing two innings of relief that saw him strikeout two and put together a three-up, three-down seventh inning that sealed the victory.
In the series finale, Keegan Symons earned the start, and the senior right-hander delivered, striking out six through six innings with just one earned run. Symons kept the potent Schreiner offense at bay for the majority of his start, which set up UMHB’s 9-4 win.
Weston Dean, a transfer from Angelina College, made his UMHB debut on Saturday, starting the third game at shortstop after pinch-hitting in game two. The junior went 3-for-5, including a one-out single in the sixth inning of game two that drove in Riley Bender and broke a 5-5 tie.
- Dean also had three RBIs in Saturday’s doubleheader.
Cameron Talburt is now tied for second in the ASC in walks (13). He had three against Schreiner, including two on Friday night, and scored one run in all three wins this past weekend.
- The transfer from Eastern Oklahoma State College also went 4-for-9 at the plate with two RBIs in the series.

Up Next

UMHB hosts Whittier College (4-8-1), a D-III program from Los Angeles County in California, on Wednesday at Red Murff Field. The non-conference tilt begins at 2:30 p.m. CT and will be the first meeting between the two programs since 2004.