Marshall, Texas – Day one of the 2026 American Southwest Conference Baseball Championship concluded Thursday, with Mary Hardin-Baylor and East Texas Baptist each earning opening-round victories at Woods Field on the campus of East Texas Baptist University.
The tournament opened with an exciting pair of match ups, as No. 3 seed Mary Hardin-Baylor used a strong ninth inning rally to defeat No. 2 seeded Hardin-Simmons, 10-5. In game two, top-seeded East Texas Baptist extended its winning streak to 15 games with a 12-4 victory over Howard Payne.
Hardin-Simmons and Howard Payne will meet in an elimination game Friday, May 1, at 11:00 a.m., with the winner keeping its championship hopes alive. The winners of Thursday’s contests, Mary Hardin-Baylor and East Texas Baptist, will face off at 3:00 p.m. Followed by a final game between the 11:00 a.m. winner and the loser of the 3:00 p.m. match up.
Game 1 | No. 3 Mary Hardin-Baylor 10, No. 2 Hardin-Simmons 5 | Box Score
Mary Hardin-Baylor erased a four-run deficit and scored five runs in the ninth inning to defeat Hardin-Simmons 10-5 in the game of the American Southwest Conference Baseball Championship on Thursday in Marshall. Trailing 5-1 early, the Cru chipped away with runs in the sixth and eighth before capitalizing on key ninth-inning miscues, highlighted by a Chris Perez squeeze bunt and a two-RBI single from Nolan Williams. Cameron Talburt and Easton Cline each recorded three hits, while Williams drove in three runs to help send UMHB into Friday’s semifinal matchup.
Scoring Summary:
1st | Easton Cline singled to left field to score Cameron Talburt, giving Mary Hardin-Baylor an early 1-0 lead.
1st |Hardin-Simmons answered in the bottom half of the inning on a Catcher Ridings RBI groundout to tie the game, 1-1.
3rd | The Cowboys broke things open with a four-run inning, highlighted by RBI plays from Gavin Bruning, Paul Samaripa, Ty McCoy, and Benji Fielder to take a 5-1 advantage.
6th | The Cru began to chip away as Tyler Martin scored on a balk, Jacob Newland came home on an Austin Birkhoff RBI single, and Easton Cline added a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to 5-4.
8th | Nolan Williams delivered a clutch RBI double to left center, scoring Cameron Talburt and evening the game at 5-5.
9th | Mary Hardin-Baylor erupted for five runs in the final inning. Tyler Martin scored on a Hardin-Simmons error, Chris Perez plated Jacob Newland on a squeeze play, another Cowboys error brought in an additional run, and Nolan Williams capped the rally with a two-RBI single to secure the 10-5 victory.
Game 2 | No. 1 East Texas Baptist 12, No. 4 Hardin-Simmons 4 | Box Score
East Texas Baptist used a big seventh and eighth inning to pull away from Howard Payne, 12-4, on Thursday in Marshall. The Tigers led wire-to-wire after Jobee Boone's two-run single in the first, but Howard Payne briefly tied the game at 4-4 in the seventh on a pinch-hit two-run homer from Hunter Pope. ETBU responded with eight unanswered runs over the final two innings to secure the win. Tyler Bogusz improved to 4-3 with the victory.
Scoring Summary
1st | Jobee Boone singled to right field with two RBI, scoring Carter Nannini and Joaquin Costa to give East Texas Baptist an early 2-0 lead.
6th | Justin Flannery launched a two-run homer to left field, scoring Brody Tewers and extending the ETBU lead to 4-1.
7th | Howard Payne tied the game at 4-4 as Braden Franks drove in Joshua Lile on a fielder's choice, and Hunter Pope capped the rally with a two-run pinch-hit home run to left field, scoring Colby Chapman.
7th | East Texas Baptist answered immediately — Jobee Boone doubled home Joaquin Costa, then Brody Tewers singled in Boone, and Connor Massimini singled through the right side to plate two more, pushing the lead to 8-4.
8th | Kahne Nolen doubled to center to score Carter Nannini and Jobee Boone, and a bases-loaded walk to Connor Massimini capped a four-run inning, making it 12-4.
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