Photo of UMHB Softball’s Addy Todd courtesy of University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Athletics
BELTON — Addy Todd broke for third base, then turned the corner and headed home in perhaps the most memorable play of Monday’s doubleheader.
The freshman, known for her remarkable speed on the basepaths, scored on the error by Concordia (TX) catcher Molly Olivarez in the first at-bat of the eighth inning, lifting UMHB to a momentum-shifting 4-3 win in Game 1. Todd’s game-winning run gave The Cru its first walk-off win of the 2026 season, completing a three-run comeback beneath a clear sky at Dee Dillon Field.
UMHB’s triumphant effort snapped a seven-game win streak for Concordia (22-6, 17-3 SCAC), while the Crusaders—who came in having dropped five straight—began a new win streak of their own. Powered by consistency in the circle, an offensive explosion in Game 2, and Todd’s clutch baserunning, UMHB (13-15, 0-2 ASC) swept the doubleheader, adding a 12-3 victory in the nightcap. Monday marked the first time Concordia, one of three 20-win teams in the SCAC, dropped consecutive games this season.
Game 1—capped by Todd’s dash for home in extra innings—began with Concordia taking firm control, as the visiting Tornados got out to a 3-0 lead through four innings, seemingly still energized by their dominant sweep of Hendrix College two days before. But UMHB, playing for the first time in six days, settled in by the fifth inning. Following a three-up, three-down inning from pitcher Chloe Booth, the bats came alive in a three-run fifth. A double-steal from Ava Perlinger and Jordan Iverson put two runners in scoring position for Bralyn Belk, who drove UMHB’s fourth hit of the inning to right field, pushing two runs across. Concordia’s first costly error of the game came two batters later, when Shorey Nguyen reached base on an error by Concordia third baseman Karlee Mathis, allowing Belk to score the game-tying run from second.
After surrendering three runs through the first three innings, Booth was lights out the rest of the way, tossing five straight scoreless frames in her longest outing of the season. The junior transfer from Our Lady of the Lake (NAIA), scattered two hits across those final five innings and struck out two. Perhaps her most crucial pitching came in the eighth, as CTX put runners on second and third with just one out. But Booth rose to the occasion, striking out Olivarez before getting Mathis to fly out as she escaped the jam.
Game 2 followed a similar pattern, though there was no need for an extra inning this time around. CTX went up 3-0 in the first inning, but a five-run third from The Cru turned it around. A 6-4-3 double play ended the inning at the plate for the Tornados, and UMHB carried that defensive playmaking into its trips to the plate, starting with Belk’s leadoff double. The hosts batted around in the third, sending nine batters to the plate, four of whom tallied a hit. Macy Alewine delivered the go-ahead RBIs, doubling to the right-center field gap as Ryleigh Mills and Todd both scored for a 5-3 lead.
The Cru pushed one across in both the fourth and fifth, before another five-run inning in the sixth ended it on a run-rule. A grand slam from Brielle Moreland provided the emphatic finish, as the sophomore walked it off for UMHB in her lone at-bat of the contest.
Similar to Game 1, the pitching proved steady in the late innings, allowing The Cru’s lead to build. After CTX’s three-run first (though only one run was earned), Madelynn Denn fired five straight scoreless innings for her second win of the season. The UT-Dallas transfer allowed just one hit between the second, third, and fourth innings.
UMHB Stat Leaders
Game 1: Bralyn Belk (2-for-2, 2 RBI, 1 R), Macy Alewine (2-for-3), Shorey Nguyen (1-for-3, RBI)
Pitching — Chloe Booth (8.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 Ks)
Game 2: Bralyn Belk (3-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI), Addy Todd (2-for-4, 2 R), Ryleigh Mills (1-for-2, 2 R, 2 RBI), Macy Alewine (1-for-3, 2 RBI), Brielle Moreland (1-for-1, 4 RBI, first collegiate HR)
Pitching — Madelyn Denn (6.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 2 Ks)
Up Next
UMHB has a week-long break from game action before hosting No. 14 St. Thomas (TX) in Belton on April 7 in a 4 p.m. doubleheader. UST is 21-5, with a 19-2 record in SCAC play.
