PINEVILLE, La.  – McMurry University Baseball dropped a pair of American Southwest Conference games Friday evening at Louisiana College, dropping game one, 6-1, before falling in a slugfest in game two, 16-8.

The series finale between the War Hawks and Wildcats will be Saturday at noon.

Louisiana College 6, McMurry 1

The War Hawks (7-22, 0-14 ASC) struck first with an RBI single by second baseman Jordan Speck in the second, but a five run fourth inning gave the Wildcats (23-6, 10-4 ASC) the victory.

McMurry put runners in scoring position in the sixth and seventh, but was not able to come up with the timely hits. The Wildcats added an insurance run in the sixth inning.

Speck led the War Hawks with three hits and an RBI at the plate, while third baseman Payton Stokes and right fielder Mike Gonzales each had two hits.

Right-hander Jack Poe suffered the loss after allowing six runs on six hits in 5.1 innings with one strikeout.

Louisiana College 16, McMurry 8

McMurry rallied from a five run first inning by the Wildcats to tie the game at 8-8, but Louisiana College answered with three in the bottom of the sixth and tacked on five more in the seventh for the 16-8 win.

Trailing 5-0 after the first inning, the War Hawks scored three times in the top of the third on an RBI single by Gonzales and a two-run triple by first baseman Marty Carnahan. McMurry then tied the game at 5-5 in the fourth on a two-run single by Gonzales.

Gonzales would then drive in three on a double in the sixth to tie the game at 8-8 for a career-high six RBIs. However, the Wildcats scored eight unanswered runs to pull away for the win.

Gonzales recorded four hits in the nightcap and scored a run, as well. Speck collected a hit and scored three times, while third baseman Javier Rosa tallied a hit and scored a pair of runs.

J.T. Barnes got the start on the mound, working 5.0 innings, allowing eight runs, four earned, on nine hits with three strikeouts.