BROWNWOOD, Texas – McMurry University Softball settled for a split Thursday afternoon at American Southwest Conference foe Howard Payne University, winning game one, 5-2, before falling in the nightcap, 12-7.
The series finale is slated for 11 a.m. Friday.
McMurry 5, Howard Payne 2
Hope Schoeneman took a no hitter into the seventh inning McMurry took game one of the twin bill. She retired the first 10 batters of the game before issuing a walk. Looking to complete the no-no in the seventh, the Yellow Jackets (14-20, 10-13 ASC) ruined the bid with a leadoff home run, and would later add second run.
Schoeneman was able to limit the damage and hold on for the complete game win. She struck out a career-high 10 batters, and tied her season low of allowing just three hits.
The War Hawks (13-21, 8-15 ASC) got on the board in the second inning, when leftfielder Kollin Morris reached on a fielding error, allowing shortstop Mikayla Krause to score.
McMurry would add to their lead in the fourth when it scored two more runs. Catcher Nina Hernandez delivered an RBI single, followed by an RBI double by first baseman Rachel Ripley. Hernandez then hit her second home run of the season in the seventh for an insurance run.
Hernandez, Ripley and right fielder Summer Quiroga all finished with two hits, while Hernandez tallied two RBIs. The War Hawks totaled 10 hits overall.
Howard Payne 12, McMurry 7
A five run first inning wasn't enough to hold off the Yellow Jackets in game two, as Howard Payne scored seven unanswered runs over the first three innings and held on for the win.
McMurry homered twice in the opening frame, a two-run shot by Ripley and a solo home run by designated player Maisa Ryerson to take a quick 3-0 lead. The War Hawks scored twice more on an RBI fielder's choice by third baseman Adrienne Nairn and an RBI groundout by second baseman Sydney King.
However, the Yellow Jackets would score three times in the bottom half of the inning, and then tied it with two runs in the second. Howard Payne proceeded to take the lead in the third with two more runs.
The War Hawks briefly tied the game in the fifth on a pinch hit home run by Kasey Woolard. McMurry had pulled within one run in the fourth on a pinch hit RBI single by Kamwren Jackson.
But the Yellow Jackets scored a single run of their own in the bottom of the fifth to regain the lead, and added four insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth, capped by a three-run homer.
Quiroga reached on a two-out single in the seventh, but the War Hawks were unable to mount a rally.
Ripley and Quiroga each tallied two hits, with Ripley scoring twice and driving in a pair on the home run.
Cheyenne West took the loss in relief, after allowing five runs on eight hits over 3.2 innings.
