BELTON, Texas – Mary Hardin-Baylor scored five runs in the opening inning and never looked back, as the Cru posted a 9-7 victory over the Concordia University Texas baseball team in an American Southwest Conference (ASC) series opener on Friday night at Red Murff Field.

The Tornados (25-12, 20-10 ASC) tried to get back in the contest with four tallies in the second inning, but Mary Hardin-Baylor (25-13, 19-12 ASC) answered with three more in the bottom of the frame.

Concordia Texas scored twice in the third to pull within two, but UMHB again responded with a mark in the bottom of the stanza.

The Tornados managed one more run in the fourth, but were unable to get any closer as the Cru held on the rest of the way for the two-run victory.

Mary Hardin-Baylor out-hit Concordia, 10-9, but the Cru committed three errors in the contest.

Garrett Benyo paced the Tornados with two hits, while Jon McManemin was 1-for-4 with a double and three RBIs. Cole Calder also was 1-for-4 with a double and a stolen base in his first action in over a month.

Danny Horstman (3-1) received the win after tossing four scoreless innings of relief. Aaron Barteau picked up his seventh save after hurling 1.2 scoreless panels to close out the contest.

Kiel Harmon (5-1) suffered his first loss of the campaign, as the right-hander was unable to retire the first three hitters of the game. He was lifted from the tilt in favor of the Tornados' bullpen in the first inning.

Trey Pledger and Scott Weinschenk combined to log 5.1 scoreless frames to conclude the game. The duo combined to allow only one hit and a walk.

The series is scheduled to finish up with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday.