Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 EDMUND, Okla. – McMurry University's baseball team had a long day at the National Christian College Athletic Association Central Region Championships, after weather played havoc with the schedule. The War Hawks (25-27) defeated No. 2-seed Grace University, 7-4, and then lost to top-seed Oklahoma Christian University, 7-3, at Dobson Field.
 
Wednesday's rain in the Oklahoma City area pushed last night's scheduled game versus No. 2-seeded Grace University (Neb.) to Thursday morning. Righty Lanny Zier took the hill for the War Hawks and turned in a winning effort, with some relief help from John Cortez.
 
Zier, a junior, went seven full innings, and got into the eighth, before Cortez came on to shut down a Grace rally and close out matters. Zier allowed the Royals 10 hits and permitted four runs – three earned – in improving his personal record on the year to 5-6. He struck out three and did not walk a GU batter.
 
McMurry took advantage of the first of an eventual four errors by the Royals in plating an unearned run in the top of the second. After Grace tied it at 1-1 in their half of the third, McM took a 2-1 advantage in the fifth after a one-out single by Christian Simmons and an RBI single from Eric Moritz.
 
In the top half of the seventh, the War Hawks blew the game open with a five-run outburst and all coming with two outs. Another one-out single off the bat of Simmons was followed by a fly out. With two down, GU pitchers then walked the next two War Hawk batters to load the bases, bringing Eric Preuss to the plate.
 
Preuss laced a single to center that scored Simmons and Ben Douglas, and left runners on the corners. AJ Dupre kept the hit parade going with a double to right that brought in Moritz and Preuss. Greg Koll grounded a ball to short that was booted, with Dupre scoring the unearned run to make the score 7-1.
 
Grace scored a run off of Zier in the bottom of the seventh and, after a two-run homer with no out in the top of the eighth, Cortez came on for Zier to stop the threat and then hold off the Royals in the ninth to preserve the McM victory.
 
Moritz was the only War Hawk with multiple hits, going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI. Preuss and Dupree each had a pair of RBI.
 
Grace (26-16) out-hit McMurry by a 12-to-7 margin.
 
In its nightcap game – or more accurately the "morning-cap" after not starting until around 10 p.m. and finishing at 1 a.m. – the War Hawks suffered their first loss of the double-elimination tournament. McM fell to No. 1-seeded Oklahoma Christian, 7-3.
 
The Eagles doubled up on McMurry in hits (14-7), as the War Hawks managed just three unearned runs. OC went up 5-0 before the visiting McMurry team finally got on the board.
 
Starter Caleb Gonzales took the loss for McMurry, giving up all five runs (four earned) in his three innings of work. Gonzales walked two and struck out two. Ben Bates tossed three innings and gave up two earned runs, while Trevor Ragsdale threw two scoreless innings.
 
Leadoff man Kyle Sargent (2-for-5) and secondbaseman Jeremy Ruiz (2-for-4) had the only multi-hit games for McMurry. Ruiz and Preuss each had doubles for the War Hawks.
 
McMurry will face Central Christian College at 11 a.m. Friday morning in an elimination game. The winner takes on Oklahoma Christian at 5 p.m.