CLARKSVILLE, Arkansas – The McMurry Baseball team was on the verge of its first American Southwest Conference win against University of the Ozarks on Saturday, but ultimately fell in extra innings via a 13-12 walk-off at Lonnie Qualls Field.
After struggling to find offense in yesterday's doubleheader, the War Hawks (2-6-1, 0-3) went toe-to-toe with the Ozarks in a high-scoring affair that saw 32 combined hits. Trailing by one in the ninth, the Eagles (8-1, 3-0) tallied one run to tie it and later hit an RBI single to complete the sweep.
McMurry jumped to a 4-0 lead in the first three innings, but allowed Ozarks to take an 11-6 advantage in the middle innings. Some late inning heroics sparked by an Ethan Schmidt homer allowed the War Hawks to rally back into the lead via six unanswered runs in the seventh and eighth.
Schmidt, a sophomore infielder, led the team with a 3-for-5 day. He finished with a two-run homer, an RBI single and a double. He finished with four RBI, two runs, a walk and a stolen base.
Junior Sam Hillyer also had three hits, including a double and an RBI infield single. Junior Jonah Bailey scored four runs for McMurry, batting 2-for-5 with a pair of RBI. Another junior, Marty Carnahan, added three runs of his own and went 2-for-6 with a double and two stolen bases.
The second inning brought home three runs for McM to open scoring, including RBI hits from Schmidt and Bailey. Freshman Caleb Shaw added an RBI single to cap the frame. Bailey double-dipped in the third, earning an RBI groundout to bring home Carnahan for a second time.
After Ozarks tied the game heading to the fourth, Hillyer answered with his infield RBI single. His bases-loaded grounder to shortstop allowed runners to move station-to-station, scoring sophomore Reed Hodges.
Ozarks tied it again in the bottom half, prompting Schmidt to drive home another go-ahead run. Ozarks then scored six straight before Schmidt came back up in the seventh with a two-run homer. Kyle Keever, Javier Rosa and Trent Lee contributed to the late rally with the bases loaded, with Keever and Lee bringing in runs via fielder's choice grounders. Rosa was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, scoring Bailey to tie the game at 11.
The Eagles summoned left-hander Josh Craven to pitch the final 4.0 innings, as he held McMurry scoreless to pick up the win. Austin Arey had the challenge of holding off Ozarks in extra innings, allowing just one run in 1.2 innings of work for the loss.
Pitchers of record:
W – Josh Craven (1-0)
L – Austin Arey (0-1)
S – None
On deck:
The War Hawks return to Abilene for a five-game home stand, beginning on Tuesday, Feb. 25 against Austin College. First pitch is set for 5 p.m.
