Box Score
TEMPLE, Texas –
Brian Durst scored on a wild pitch in the top of the 10th inning and McMurry held on for a 4-3 extra-innings victory over Concordia-Texas in the first of a three-game American Southwest Conference West Division series Thursday night.
McMurry erased a 3-0 deficit by scoring two runs in the eighth, one in the ninth and Durst's game-winner in the 10th to move to a tie for third place in the ASC West with a 6-4 league record.
Dylan De Leon scored on an error and
Jeff Jackson doubled home a run in the eighth for McMurry to cut the Tornado lead to 3-2. Then, on a full count with two outs in the top of the ninth inning,
Michael Dibiasi singled home
Andrew Bell to tie the score at three for McMurry.
Cory Davis responded by coming out of the bullpen to strike out two-straight CTX hitters in the bottom of the ninth before Justin Yeager lined out to end the ninth and McMurry forced extra innings.
In the tenth, Durst singled with one out, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and moved to third base on a fielder's choice. With two outs, CTX reliever Russell Johns threw a wild pitch and the ball went to the backstop while Durst scampered home to help McMurry take its first lead. Davis then struck out two more in the 10th including Michael Bogard for the final out to move to 3-2 on the season.
The Tornados scored all three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning when Bogard singled home Alec Carter, Phil Smith tripled home Bogard and Smith scored on an error with two outs.
McMurry's
Zack Hewitt threw six innings in the start and faced a batter in the seventh, however, he received the no decision despite his second-straight solid start. Hewitt allowed six hits, three runs (two earned), didn't walk a hitter and struck out four. However, Chris Maldanado and Davis came to the rescue for McMurry out of the bullpen. Maldanado threw two innings of scoreless relief before Davis closed the door.
Offensively De Leon, Jackson and Bell collected two hits apiece and
Jake Mullin extended his hitting streak to 11 games.
CTX fell to 12-16 overall and 5-5 in ASC West play while McMurry improved to 13-14 overall with a 6-4 league mark. The two teams will conclude the series with a doubleheader scheduled for a Noon start.
