ABILENE, Texas – McMurry University baseball smacked a season-high 19 hits on its way to a 12-6 non-conference win over Dallas Christian College at Walt Driggers Field. The War Hawks improved to 6-11 overall, while the Crusaders fell to 4-15.
 
The 12 runs scored also matched McM's season high (also hitting a dozen against Southwestern back on February 16). The War Hawks' six doubles versus DCC was also their best total of 2018.
 
No one had a bigger game than senior firstbaseman Tyler Jenkins.  Jenkins, a former Cooper High School player, went 4-for-5 and belted a pair of home runs (giving him a team-leading six this season). Jenkins slammed a solo shot in the bottom of the first and a leadoff blast in the sixth, also lacing a double. He had four runs scored and three runs batted in.
 
Senior catcher Chris Baker continued his hot hitting, going 3-for-4 and Matthew Chalk was 2-for-5, which each slapping a pair of doubles each. Each scored a run, with Baker driving in two and Chalk one.
 
Also having multi-hit games were Mike Gonzales (2-for-5), Nick Hamel (2-for-4), and Payton Stokes (2-for-5). Gonzales had the War Hawks' other double in the game.
 
For the second-consecutive start, McM right-hander Nick Hamel struggle in the first inning – permitting the Crusaders a pair of runs – before settling down to give his team five strong innings.  Hamel left with a 5-3 lead, but did not figure in the decision. He struck out seven DCC batters and walked just one, giving way to Aaron Donald, who pitched the sixth and seventh frames. Donald was touched up for three runs, just two earned, with a walk and a strikeout. 
 
That allowed the Crusaders to tie the game at 6-6 after s 6 1/2 innings, but Donald (1-0) was still the pitcher of record when McM took the lead. The War Hawks scratched out an unearned run in their half of the seventh, thanks to an error in the DCC outfield on a single by Gonzales.

McM head coach John Byington then handed the ball to junior righty Juan Valadez to finish the last two innings. Valadez responded with two shutout innings, giving up one hit, striking out two and walking just one. For the second-straight appearance, Valadez was the benefactor of the War Hawks' late-inning explosive bats to provide some breathing room. Against Dallas Christian, the onslaught came in the form of a five-run eighth with McM sending 11 batters to the plate. McMurry had five hits – including back-to-back doubles by Chalk and Baker – two walks and one reached base on an error, giving Valadez his first save of the year.
 
McMurry will next travel to Concordia University-Texas for a three-game weekend series on Friday and Saturday (March 16-17) in Austin.