Box Score
BROWNWOOD, Texas – McMurry achieved season-highs in hits and runs Thursday afternoon against Howard Payne as McMurry accumulated 28 hits en route to a 26-10 onslaught of the Yellow Jackets in an American Southwest Conference West Division game at Don Shepard Park.  With the win, McMurry pushes its winning streak to a school-record 11 games as they are now 20-12 overall and 11-5 in ASC West play.

McMurry maintains its position in second place in the ASC West standings as first-place Texas Lutheran (12-4 in West play) also won on Thursday.  McMurry and Howard Payne will finish out their three-game set on Friday with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.

Click here to view Live Stats of the Friday doubleheader.

Both teams came out of the gates fired up at the plate as 12 combined runs were scored in the first inning with the Yellow Jackets holding a 7-5 advantage.  But after a rough first inning, McMurry pitcher Kyle Martin would calm the Howard Payne bats, while the McMurry bats remained smoldering hot. 

McMurry took the lead in the top of the second as they tagged four more runs on the board to take a 9-7 lead.  McMurry pushed its lead to 11-7 after the top of the third as they scored two more runs in the frame.  Howard Payne countered in the bottom of the third with one run to make it an 11-8 game. 

McMurry lead 13-9 after the fourth inning as McMurry scored two runs in the top of the frame while the Yellow Jackets mustered one in the bottom portion of the inning.  After a scoreless fifth inning, McMurry scored one run in the top of the sixth to extend their lead to 14-9 going into the seventh inning.  McMurry outscored Howard Payne 3-1 in the seventh inning to hold a decisive 17-10 lead going into the eighth.  McMurry's bats only got hotter in he top of the eighth as they tagged nine more runs on the board to finish out the scoring. 

Martin got the win as he worked six innings.  He allowed seven earned runs on 11 hits, although the majority of that damage was done in the bottom of the first inning.  He also struck out four and only walked two.  Dakota Smith pitched two innings of relief and Trey Hellman through a scoreless ninth inning to finish out the game for McMurry. 

At the plate, every McMurry player who had an official at bat tallied at least two hits in the game.  McMurry catcher Jeff Jackson had arguably his best game of the year as he finished 3 for 6 with a home run and a game-high six RBIs.  His biggest hit was a three-run homer to right center in the top of the second. 

McMurry third baseman Stephen Derrick also had a huge game at the plate.  He finished 3 for 5, including a two-run homer to right center in the top of the seventh.  He also scored four runs and drove in five RBIs.  Not to be outdone, freshman designated hitter Matt Thompson finished 4 for 4 (including a triple and a double) with four runs scored and three RBIs.