Photo of Madeline Stephenson from cruathletics.com
BELTON, Texas—Nearly everything went right for the UMHB softball team on Thursday evening, and in turn, The Cru now has a shot at its first series sweep of the season on Friday.
UMHB, who is 10-11 overall and 4-7 in league play, swept LeTourneau in an ASC doubleheader, as the Crusaders opened the day with an 8-1 victory and followed that up with a 6-2 win. It secures a conference series win for The Cru for just the second time this season.
And much of that success came as a credit to UMHB’s hitting, as the Crusaders tallied 20 hits over the course of both victories. Amongst the standouts at the plate, second baseman Madeline Stephenson went 3-for-3 in game one with two runs scored and an RBI before going 1-for-3 with two RBIs in the nightcap.
“We had a tough start but we’ve been working at practice, trying to be aggressive and get the intensity up,” Stephenson said in the postgame interview with CruSports’ Kyle Shipp. “It shows out here what we worked on.”
Stephenson, who is batting .358 in her first season with The Cru after transferring in from Blinn Junior College, recorded her first three-hit performance of the season in the 8-1 victory over LeTourneau. She also scored multiple runs in a game for the first time, scoring UMHB’s first run in the second inning to tie the score at 1-1, and crossed the plate one inning later on a single up the middle from Tori Skinner that made it 5-1.
Bailey Frenzel, Bryton Wright, Bralyn Belk, and Skinner each joined Stephenson in the multi-hit club in game one. Frenzel went 3-for-4, Wright was 2-for-4, Belk was 2-for-2 in a pinch-hitting role, and Skinner tallied a team-high three RBIs in a 2-for-4 performance.
After LeTourneau took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second, UMHB countered with Stephenson scoring on Skinner’s first RBI of the day, and then took the lead in the third. The Cru scored seven runs in the third and fourth innings, sealing the victory in dominant fashion.
Eileigh Whyte earned the win in the circle, improving to 7-5 this season, as she completed five innings, allowing just three hits and one earned run. Reese Albrecht closed the victory with two scoreless innings, allowing zero hits and just one walk.
In game two, it was UMHB who took the lead first, going up 3-0 in the second inning on key RBIs from Shorey Nguyen and Taylor Henken. LETU cut the deficit to a single run by the fifth inning, however, and it was Frenzel who countered for The Cru. Her base hit brought Lindsey Polleschultz across the plate and gave UMHB separation.
Stephenson fittingly closed one of her strongest days at the plate by driving in UMHB’s final run in the 6-2 win, as Chloe Cox and Kaitlin Powers both scored on the single in the sixth.
Chloee Mason surrendered just three hits in the circle for The Cru in six innings as she earned her third win of the year. Albrecht once again came on in relief, throwing one scoreless inning for UMHB.
Game Notes
- UMHB has now won the last five meetings with LETU, and has outscored the Yellowjackets by 6.33 runs in the last three victories.
- The Crusaders have not lost to LETU in Belton since Feb.16, 2018.
- UMHB tallied 14 or more hits for the third time this season in game one, and it marked the first time this season The Cru reached that number in a home game.
- The Cru swiped four bases in each of the victories, and have now stolen at least four bases in four different games played in the month of March this season.
- UMHB had a pair of doubles in both games of the doubleheader, and it marks the first time this season that the Crusaders have done so in consecutive games.
- Bryton Wright was responsible for two of the four doubles and currently has a slugging percentage of .484.
Up Next
UMHB goes for the series sweep on Friday at Dee Dillon Field, hosting LETU at noon. The Yellowjackets are 12-10 overall and 5-3 in the ASC.
