SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Senior right-handed pitcher Mitch Labbie tossed a no-hitter in the first game - and the McMurry bats treated the DeSales University pitchers with all the reverence of a piñata - in a doubleheader win, 12-0 and 5-0, at Trinity University Field. The victories upped the War Hawks' (12-3) winning streak to nine games and gave the team the series-sweep of the Bulldogs (3-5).
 
In the three contests between McM and DeSales, McMurry out-scored DU, 28-2. The War Hawks also out-hit the Bulldogs by a 38-12 margin in the trio of games. It marked the seventh double-digit run total – as well as ninth double-figure hit total – of 2015 for the War Hawks.
 
GAME 1:
Labbie (2-0) recorded the first no-hitter since the school reinstituted baseball in 1996 (after a 47-year hiatus and the only one on record), with a dominating performance. Only one Bulldog even got into scoring position and that was in the second inning. DU's Jay Maletz reached on a throwing error by shortstop Kyle Sargent and took second on a passed ball.  However, Labbie induced the next three batters to ground out to the left side of the infield to work out of the jam and force the runner to stay put at second base.
 
Labbie walked three and struck out two, facing a total of just 23 batters. The War Hawks' defense helped out their hurler with double plays in both the first and fifth innings.
 
"Mitch did an outstanding job throwing strikes and commanding his fastball," McM head coach John Byington said. "He stayed ahead in the count to the hitters all game. It was a superb performance."
 
For Labbie, it was just another day at the office. But the senior admitted that around the fifth inning the pressure ramped up slightly.
 
"I felt pretty good from the start," Labbie said. "Our offense gave me six runs in the beginning and it just kind of kept me loose; the team was rolling. I just wanted to keep competing. I knew I had to keep throwing strikes to keep my defense loose. It's tough in a 12-0 ball game, but I just had to mentally prepare myself to keep going after hitters.
 
"To be honest I did (think about a no hitter); I started noticing it. I kind of got a little pressure because I could tell my teammates knew. But I didn't get really nervous until the last out."
 
Not only did Labbie make McMurry history with his gem, but it was also the first-ever no-hitter of his career, as well "For this program, that's an accomplishment (to have the first no-hitter)," Labbie reflected. "I'm blessed. I couldn't do it without my catcher, Mike Hunter, and my defense behind me; they did great.
 
"It's a great feeling!"
 
With the bats, McMurry picked up right where it left off in last night's series opener by plating six runs in the top of the first. In the opening frame of the day, the War Hawks sent 11 men to the plate and had six hits. Patrick Adams and Cody Howard both had singles, extending their respective hitting streaks to 10 and nine games.  Zack Hagan's two-run double was the big blow in the inning.
 
In the top of the third inning, Howard slapped his team-leading fourth triple, driving in two runs, and keying a four-run output by the War Hawks. That upped McM's lead to 10-0 on 10 hits. McMurry added single runs in the top of the fourth and fifth innings for the teams' 12-run total.
 
In the game, Howard was 3-for-3 with two runs and the two runs batted in, before giving way to a pinch hitter.
 
Christian Simmons (2-3), Adams (2-5), Ricky Garcia (2-3) and Sargent (2-3) all had multi-hit games for McMurry. Sargent had a pair of RBI, as did Mikal Hunter and Hagan. Simmons, Hagan, Garcia and Sargent all hit doubles that – along with Howard's triple – gave the War Hawks five extra-base hits in the game.
 
GAME 2:
Lanny Zier improved his personal record to 4-0 on the year with seven scoreless innings of work in the nightcap. Zier scattered five hits, struck out two Bulldogs and walked just one. Ricky Lopez and Ben Bates each gave Byington a perfect inning of relief to close out matters.
 
In the second game, Adams went 2-for-4 with two RBI and extended his hitting skein to 11 games. Howard, however, saw his streak snapped at nine, going 0-2 in game No. 2 (he walked twice and was hit by a pitch).
 
Hagan was 3-for-5, scoring once, and Sargent went 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBI.
 
The two teams locked horns for four innings, with neither able to cross the plate. In the fifth, Adams' two-run single finally gave Zier some runs to work with. Sargent slapped a two-run single in the eighth – bringing in Garcia and Hagan – followed by an RBI single by Simmons that knocked in Sargent to make it the 5-0 final score.
 
With the two shutouts on Saturday, McM lowered its staff ERA to 2.27 for 127 innings pitched. Opponents are hitting just .233 against the War Hawks and that staff has a better than 2-to-1 strikeouts-to-walks ratio (81-37). Offensively, McM raised its team batting average to .316 collectively, with 38 extra-base hits.
 
McMurry will host Southwestern Assemblies of God University next Tuesday (March 10) at Walt Driggers Field. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.