Photo of Game 2 starter Beth Ann Johnston courtesy of UMHB Athletics
BELTON — If UMHB needed any additional confidence in its pitching staff before hosting the ASC’s top-hitting team in a key weekend series, The Cru found it beneath an overcast sky on Tuesday afternoon.
Coming off a seven-day break from game action in a highly-anticipated doubleheader against 14th-ranked St. Thomas (TX), the trio of Chloe Booth, Beth Ann Johnston, and Katherine Neal gave UMHB an overwhelming presence in the circle from start to finish in both ends of the twinbill.
In the end, The Cru’s final pitching numbers told the story: 14.0 innings pitched, two earned runs, 10 hits allowed, two walks surrendered. And a very frustrated UST lineup.
UMHB (15-15) swept both games at Dee Dillon Field in a pair of pitcher’s duels, winning the opener, 3-1, followed by a 2-1 victory in the nightcap. UST (24-6), who carried a nine-game win streak into the non-conference tilt, dropped its first true road game since March 3 and took consecutive losses for only the second time this spring. It was a reversal of fortunes for The Cru, who finally got in the win column against a nationally-ranked foe after taking six early losses to Top 25 teams in the season’s first two months.
Booth took the ball in Game 1 and delivered a lights-out performance in her fourth start in a UMHB uniform, going the distance in a seven-inning outing. The San Antonio native allowed just one run on three hits and struck out four in the win, retiring 21 of the 24 batters she faced. A transfer from Our Lady of the Lake University, Booth did not allow a hit until the fourth inning, when Savana Henken reached base on a one-out bunt, and the Celts were scoreless until Ciaira Gonzalez’s two-out RBI double in the seventh.
Booth’s command in the circle kept UST’s lineup guessing all afternoon, with a normally-potent squad of hitters held to three hits for only the second time in 2026. It also marked just the third instance in which UST pushed no more than one run across in a single game. With Gonzalez standing on second with two outs in the seventh and UMHB leading 3-1, Booth delievered the knockout punch, striking out Viviana Vargas to earn The Cru’s third-straight win.
Perhaps energized by Booth’s stellar showing, Johnston came back within the hour to start Game 2 and provided the same steady presence. Making her first appearance since March 24, the sophomore gave UMHB three scoreless innings, scattering four hits and a walk while retiring eight of the 13 batters she faced. Johnston induced a 4-6-3 double play to get out of the first, retired the side in the second, and ended the third with a groundout after surrendering a two-out double.
When Johnston gave up a pair of hits to open the fourth, UMHB head coach Melissa Mojica turned to Neal, who delivered exactly what The Cru needed in relief, continuing Tuesday’s theme of success in the circle. Neal tallied three straight outs, none bigger than the strikeout of Ana Zozaya with runners on second and third to preserve the shutout. A freshman from Tyler, Texas, Neal went 4.0 innings, holding off UST’s seventh inning charge with composure…and some help from her defense.
Down to its final three outs and trailing, 2-0, UST went to work in the final frame, sparked by Sophie Hassall’s leadoff single. A walk to Olivia Sanchez put runners on first and second, as the Celts threatened UMHB’s narrow lead. And the visitors from Houston nearly sliced that advantage in half in the very next at-bat, when Maegan Anderson lined a 2-1 pitch over the glove of second baseman Jordan Iverson. It looked as though Hassall would score from second as the ball made its way into center field, but Vic Shimabukuro had other plans. UMHB’s fleet-footed center fielder scooped up the ball and without hesitation, fired a strike to Macy Alewine, standing in the middle of the infield. In a textbook relay, Alewine received the throw from Shimabukuro and sent it straight into the glove of catcher Ava Jolley, waiting at the plate. The throw was in time as Jolley applied the tag on Hassall, catching her just before she slid across the plate for an emphatic out that kept UMHB’s two-run lead intact.
The drama didn’t end there, however. Pinch runner Avery Pinz reached third on the throw home and Anderson got to second, putting two in scoring position for the Celts with just one out. Neal got Isabella Rios to ground out in the next at-bat, but Pinz scored easily on the plate, bringing UST within a run of tying it up, and Anderson standing on third. The batter? Rebecca Archibald, the senior right-handed hitter who had already doubled in the third and came into the day hitting .461 on the season. But Neal kept her poise against the Celts’ top hitter in the order, and Archibald grounded out to Alewine at first base in a game-sealing play.
Neal struck out four of the 15 batters she faced, and allowed just three hits. She picked up her fourth win of the season, combining with Johnston for yet another statement performance in the circle from UMHB.
Over its last four games, the Crusader pitching staff is 4-0 with a 1.61 ERA and 13 strikeouts, having turned a corner in home doubleheaders against two of the SCAC’s top programs. UMHB’s team ERA is down to 3.76 for the season and The Cru is averaging 3.5 strikeouts per contest.
UMHB scoring breakdown
Game 1
- Ava Jolley singled in the 6th inning, breaking the deadlock to score Vic Shimabukuro for the go-ahead run.
- One batter later, ASC Hitter of the Week Bralyn Belk doubled, scoring Jolley from first for a 2-0 lead.
- Jordan Iverson capped the three-run sixth with an RBI single up the middle, bringing Ryleigh Mills across the plate.
Game 2
- Belk put the ball in play with one out in the 1st, and an error by UST first baseman Chloe Bennett allowed Shorey Nguyen—who singled to lead off the inning—to come around and score from second for a 1-0 lead.
- Sabrina Morgan added an insurance run in the 4th, stealing home with Addy Todd at the plate. Morgan’s run proved to be key in UMHB’s eventual one-run win.
Up Next
UMHB hosts Hardin-Simmons (14-4) for a four-game series on Friday and Saturday in Belton. HSU has won four in a row coming into the weekend and is hitting .420 on the year, which ranks as the No. 1 mark in the ASC. However, the Cowgirls haven’t played since March 25, and three of their four losses this season have come on the road. Friday’s doubleheader is set for 4 p.m. at Dee Dillon Field followed by a noon doubleheader on Saturday.
