GOODWELL, Okla. – After winning the final two games of the series against the No. 5 team in the nation, St. Mary's University, the McMurry baseball team (11-15) will look to put together a winning streak as they travel to Oklahoma Panhandle State (0-23) for a three-game series this weekend.
 
The War Hawks are coming off a 3-2 week, having won all three games in walk-off fashion. In its first win, McMurry posted a 6-5 victory over West Texas A&M on a game-ending hit by Zack Hagan. In their second win, McMurry got a clutch single from Cody Howard to beat St. Mary's, 4-3. McM then took the rubber match on a walk-off sacrifice fly by Eric Moritz to take the 2-1 series win over the Rattlers.
 
Ricky Garcia has arguably been the hottest hitter for the War Hawks recently. The junior short stop hit .529 (9-of-17) last week, including two doubles, a home run, and three RBI. He also boasted a slugging percentage of .824 over his last five contests.
 
The Aggies of OPSU are coming into the game in the midst of a 23-game winless streak, including a 10-8 loss in their previous contest against The University of Texas – Permian Basin. Despite the losses, the Aggies' bats have picked up recently, collecting 10+ hits in each of their last five contests.
 
In the contest against the Falcons, Nick Crosswhite, Alfanso Gonzalez and Ruben Aguirre all knocked in two runs and combined to hit 7-for-12 in the game.
 
So far this season, the Aggies have struggled on the offensive side, hitting just .194 as a team. Aguirre leads the team in batting average (.324) and Crosswhite is also hitting over the .300 mark (.304).
 
For the War Hawks, Jon Mejia leads the team in almost every major offensive category, as he is first on the roster in batting average (.359), hits (23), RBI with 12 and a .625 slugging percentage. He also ranks first in the Heartland Conference in home runs with three.
 
Garcia has improved his batting average to .299 on the season and is tied for the team lead in hits with 23. He also leads the team in doubles with six, and ranks second in RBI, having driven in 11 runs this season.
 
On the mound, Jared Hopper leads the team in wins in his closer role, having won all three games for the War Hawks last week. The senior is now 4-2 on the season with a 4.57 ERA. Starter Spencer Smith leads the team in complete games (three), and currently boasts a 3.25 ERA. In his last outing, Smith went a complete, seven innings allowing just three earned to St. Mary's while striking out six.
 
The meeting between the two teams marks the second, three-game series of the season between the Aggies and War Hawks. In the first series, the War Hawks swept OPSU by taking games one and three by scores of 2-1 and game two by a 6-0 score. In the shutout, Smith pitched the complete game shutout, allowing just four hits while striking out eight on just 66 pitches in the seven-inning contest.
 
The double header on Friday is slated to begin at 1 p.m. with a nine inning contest to be played on Saturday, also beginning at 1 p.m.