BB beats Howard Payne; game two suspended until Sunday

04/19/08

Brownwood, TX - The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor baseball team broke out of a mini-offensive slump in a big way as the Cru rolled to a game one win over Howard Payne and built a big lead in game two before it was suspended Saturday afternoon in Brownwood. UMHB won game one 16-5 and was leading game two 18-5 after six innings when that game was suspended. The Cru is currently 26-10 overall and 12-7 in American Southwest Conference play following the game one victory. UMHB also clinched a second straight berth in the ASC Championship Tournament with the win. Howard Payne falls to 14-24 overall and 8-11 in the ASC with the loss.

The Cru jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead and never looked back in rolling to a 16-5 win in game one. Steven Reinlie's RBI single made it 1-0 in the first inning. Adam Froeschl then doubled home two runs in the second, Joseph Villegas doubled home another run and Reinlie tripled home Villegas to make it 5-0. HPU cut it to 5-2 in the third, but UMHB added four more in the fourth and fifth to stretch the lead to 9-2. The Yellow Jackets put together a three-run sixth inning to close to within 9-5, but the Cru blew the game open with a seven-run seventh. Marcus Volz doubled home the first run of the inning and scored on Villegas' single. Reinlie then blasted a two-run homer, Brady Honeycutt doubled home two more runs and Earnest Pena singled home the final run of the frame. R.B. Garza picked up the win for UMHB with five innings of two-hit pitching. He raised his record to 6-2 while striking out two and walking nine. Adam Garcia took the loss for HPU to drop to 4-4. Froeschl, Villegas, Reinlie, Honeycutt, Pena and Les Sarles all had three hits apiece for the Cru in the victory. Volz hit two doubles to raise his season total to 21 and tie the UMHB single-season record set by Denny Fussell in 1992.

The Cru exploded for an eight-run first inning and a six-run fifth inning in game two. UMHB was cruising when the umpires suspended the game after six innings due to darkness with the Cru leading 18-5.

The two teams will complete the suspended game tomorrow beginning at 2:00 PM. The Cru and Yellow Jackets will then play the regularly scheduled nine-inning game to close out the regular season. If UMHB could win both of those games, the Cru would finish as part of four-way tie for first place in the ASC West Division.