Photo by Luke Zayas/True To The Cru
MARSHALL, Texas–The 2024 season for the UMHB baseball team came to an end abruptly on Thursday evening in East Texas.
After entering the tournament as the No. 3 seed, The Cru dropped games to Hardin-Simmons and McMurry, and became the first team eliminated from the six-team conference tournament. UMHB’s season ends at 24-17.
The afternoon opened with a 6-5 loss in 10 innings to sixth-seeded Hardin-Simmons, and closed underneath the night sky at Woods Field in a 7-4 defeat at the hands of the fifth-seeded McMurry Warhawks.
Game 1 Recap
In the tournament’s opening game, UMHB went up 3-0 in the second inning, thanks to a Carson Hagan two-run homer and a wild pitch that scored Elijah Rodriguez. But by the time The Cru stepped to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, HSU led 5-4. Batting with one out and Carson Hagan standing on third base, Rhett Grosz sent a groundball to shortstop as Hagan barrelled home. HSU shortstop Luke Kirkbride had no choice but to take the easy out at first base, as Hagan tied the score at 5-5 and Grosz tallied his second RBI of the day, forcing extra innings.
In the Top of the 10th, HSU countered on an inside-the-park home run from Kyler Reed. In an unfortunate turn of events for UMHB, Reed drove a pitch from Nicklas Fenner down the left field line with one out and the bases empty. Initially, it appeared that left fielder Tyler Betts would try to secure the out with a diving catch, but he then opted for a more conservative read on the ball at the last second, and tried to slow down his momentum.
That resulted in Betts falling to the ground with what appeared to be a knee injury, leaving the ball rolling towards the corner of the outfield and Reed rounding the bases. By the time center fielder Kaden deBerardinis got to the ball, Reed was on his way home. That ended up being the winning run for the Cowboys, who advanced to face UT-Dallas at 11 a.m. CT on Friday.
After UMHB went up 3-0 early, HSU recorded three straight singles, with the latter two producing runs, as the Cowboys cut the deficit to one. Grosz extended the Crusader advantage in the bottom half of that frame, with his seventh homer of the season, and the 4-2 lead held until the sixth inning. With two outs and runners on the corners, Sam Buchkowski came through with a base hit for HSU, and that single combined with a UMHB error, led to two runs and the evaporation of The Cru’s lead. Baylan Vaughan then gave the Cowboys their first lead of the game one inning later, further shifting the momentum in HSU’s favor.
Cameron Talburt was the lone Crusader with multiple hits in the loss, going 2-for-3 with a pair of walks and an RBI. Grosz and Hagan each had two RBIs and accounted for UMHB’s two homers. The Cru also stole six bases, as Talburt and Hagan led the way with two apiece.
Fenner picked up the loss on the mound, with one earned run on four hits in 3.0 innings pitched. James McGlumphy started the game for The Cru, and went 7.0 innings, striking out six while giving up nine hits and surrendering five runs, three of which were earned.
Game 2 Recap
The loss put UMHB in a must-win situation against McMurry, who fell to Concordia, 6-2, in the second game of the day. UMHB was 2-1 against the Warhawks, having won the regular season series in Belton on March 15-16.
It was McMurry who scored first, going up 1-0 on Michael Smosna’s RBI single to center field in the first inning. But with two outs in the third, UMHB claimed its first lead. Hagan, batting with Chris Perez on third, fouled off several pitches before coming through with a two-out single that tied the score. In the very next at-bat, with Rhett Grosz at the plate, Hagan took advantage of a throwing error against Smosna, the McMurry catcher, and raced to third, sliding headfirst into the bag. Grosz followed with a go-ahead RBI single for a 2-1 advantage.
McMurry had two multi-run innings in the contest, and the Warhawks’ three-run fourth inning proved to be crucial. Though Jayden Chatman sent a solo home run over the left field wall to cut the deficit to one in the bottom of the fourth, McMurry held the lead for the remainder of the contest, with three runs over the game’s final four innings. Chatman scored The Cru’s fourth—and final—run in the sixth on a Carson Riley RBI groundout, but that was it for The Cru. UMHB tallied 11 hits, though only four runners advanced to second base over the game’s final five innings, with three of those coming in the sixth.
Hagan went 3-for-5 at the plate in the loss, with one run and one RBI. Chatman added three hits as well, in a 3-for-4 performance, scoring two runs and hitting the game’s only homer.
Andrew Acierni started the game on the mound and put forth a quality effort, tossing 2.0 innings with two hits and one run, which was unearned. Rahul Champaneri picked up the loss, throwing 6.0 innings in relief, with nine hits and five earned runs.
Tournament Notes
- With four stolen bases over the course of UMHB’s two games, Hagan broke the ASC single-season record for stolen bases, raising his season total to 38.
- Hagan, a junior from Arlington, had 12 games of two or more stolen bases this season.
- Grosz tallied three RBIs over the course of Thursday’s games, and became just the second player in UMHB’s D-III history to record 50 RBIs in a season. That mark is No. 2 all-time in program history for single-season RBIs, just behind Malek Bolin’s 55 in 2022.
- Grosz also moved into the No. 4 spot in UMHB’s D-III history for hits in a career, with 184. He closed the season on a 10-game hitting streak.
- Chatman’s three-hit performance against McMurry marked a new UMHB career-high for the junior, who transferred in from Frank Phillips College prior to this season.
- UMHB is now 6-22 in ASC postseason games.
Thank you to all who followed our coverage of Crusader Baseball through this 2024 season. We appreciate you, the readers, for your support, and we look forward to providing even better coverage and content in 2025. Thank you to the seniors on this roster, for your commitment and dedication to the program. Thank you to the entire team, for your support of our coverage each and every week. And thank you to the coaching staff, and head coach Mike Stawski in particular, for his great insight and perspective as we spoke with him after both wins and losses over the course of the year. Go Cru!
