BELTON, Texas – St. Thomas' baseball team jumped out to an early lead and mounted a late rally, but ultimately fell 11–7 to Mary Hardin-Baylor, moving to 8–17 overall and 7-11 in conference. The Celts built momentum early and showed resilience down the stretch, but a late surge by the Crusaders proved to be the difference.
St. Thomas wasted no time getting on the board in the top of the first inning. Chris Johnson delivered a two run RBI single to right field scoring Zach Cline and Gage Gustafson, with Gustafson's run coming unearned. Moments later, Brady Duque reached on an error that allowed Sam Lampson and Johnson to score, giving the Celts a 4–0 lead.
Mary Hardin-Baylor responded in the bottom of the first inning, stringing together runs to even the score at 4–4.
The Celts regained the lead in the second inning when Gage Kimble doubled to right center field to bring home Gustafson and make it 5–4.
The Crusaders answered once again in the bottom of the second inning, plating two runs to take a 6–5 advantage.
After several scoreless innings, Mary Hardin-Baylor added another run in the bottom of the eighth to extend the lead to 7–5. St. Thomas responded in the top of the ninth inning with a clutch rally as Rey Izaguirre singled to left field to drive in Aryan Chopra and Owen Wade, tying the game at 7–7.
However, Mary Hardin-Baylor answered in the bottom of the ninth with a walk-off grand slam to secure the 11–7 victory.
Up Next
The Celts look to build some momentum as they prepare to face the University of the Ozarks on Friday, March 27. The first pitch is scheduled to be thrown at 3PM, in Clarksville, AR.
