File photo by Luke Zayas/True To The Cru
BELTON — There was no shortage of excitement at Dee Dillon Field on Saturday afternoon, and that went all the way to the final play of the ASC doubleheader between UMHB and LeTourneau.
With one out and the bases loaded in a game tied at 6-6, Jordan Iverson stepped to the plate for The Cru. The junior had already lined an RBI single to left field in the second inning, cutting LETU’s early lead to 3-2. Now, in the game’s most crucial moment after the YellowJackets pushed three runs across in the top half of the frame, Iverson sent another pitch to left field, this one deep enough for Madeline Stephenson to tag from third base.
Stephenson raced for home as LETU left fielder Payton Bauer secured the out and fired a throw in the direction of catcher Kylie Grisham. But Stephenson beat the throw rather easily, sliding headfirst for the walk-off win. The final score: UMHB, 7, LeTourneau, 6.
It gave the Crusaders a doubleheader sweep for the second time in the week, as UMHB took two against McMurry in a non-conference tilt three days prior. After dropping its ASC opener at No. 1-ranked ETBU, Saturday’s wins evened The Cru’s conference record to 2-2, while their overall mark rose to 17-7.
UMHB is 11-0 at Dee Dillon Field this season, having won 21 consecutive home games dating back to a 5-2 victory over Howard Payne last March.
Saturday was indeed a case of winning a doubleheader in two very different ways. For as dramatic as Game 2 was—with LETU scoring two runs with two outs in the top of the seventh and Iverson’s walk-off sac fly—Game 1 was decisive in UMHB’s favor.
The 5-0 win saw UMHB shut out an opponent for the seventh time this season, including the second time in the last four games. LETU managed just three hits off starting pitcher Eileigh Whyte, the YellowJackets’ second-lowest hit total this season, as Whyte went a complete 7.0 innings. It was Whyte’s fourth complete game in 11 starts, lowering her season ERA to 2.32.
It wasn’t the last time Whyte faced the YellowJackets, though. In the seventh inning of Game 2, with runners on first and second and UMHB leading 6-3, Whyte was called upon to pitch in relief. While she allowed a double and hit a batter, the Round Rock native recovered with a strikeout and foulout, both with the bases loaded.
An attempted force out at third—which would have sealed the win—went sideways one batter later, bringing the tying run across the plate for LETU instead as the throw to third baseman Kylie Hoggatt wasn’t received. But in another tight situation, with runners on second and third, Whyte again stepped up with a timely strikeout, setting up for Iverson’s clutch sac fly and Stephenson’s game-winning run.
Whyte earned the win in both games of the doubleheader, improving to 8-3 this season. She struck out six batters on Saturday, and now has a strikeout in each of her last six appearances, including 12 in her last three.
Bailey Frenzel had plenty to do with the lead Whyte protected in Game 1, as the first baseman went 2-for-3 with a trio of RBIs and a pair of runs scored. She swatted two home runs in a game for the second time this season, sending a solo homer to right field in the third along with a two-run shot one inning later for The Cru’s five-run lead.
Combined with her 1-for-3 performance in Game 2, Frenzel is hitting .357 in her second year in Belton, with a team-best 21 RBIs. Frenzel’s lone hit in Game 2 proved to be a crucial one as well; her fifth-inning double to center field—only her second double of the season—broke a 3-3 tie, driving in Taylor Henken.
Frenzel was one of five Crusaders with an RBI in Game 2, as both Iverson and pinch hitter Ryleigh Mills accounted for two apiece. Mills stepped up just three batters after Frenzel’s RBI double, lining a single to center field with the bases loaded. Both Tori Skinner and Frenzel scored, building the 6-3 lead UMHB carried into the seventh.
Five different UMHB hitters had at least one hit in both games of the twinbill. Leadoff Lindsey Polleschultz went 4-for-7, including three hits in Game 1. Frenzel finished 3-for-6, Skinner went 3-for-7, and Henken was 2-for-7 with a pair of RBIs. Stephenson was 3-for-5, with two runs scored in Game 2.
UMHB, having won four straight, now looks to keep its win streak going on the road at conference rival Hardin-Simmons. Next week’s four-game ASC series will feature doubleheaders in Abilene on both Friday and Saturday, as The Cru goes toe-to-toe with an HSU squad that is 7-2 at home this season. The Cowgirls are 16-3 overall, coming off a doubleheader sweep of St. Thomas (TX) on Saturday.
Great teamwork!