ABILENE, Texas – McMurry Baseball continues a five-game home stand this weekend at Walt Driggers Field, as the War Hawks will host UT Dallas for a three-game American Southwest Conference series beginning Friday at 7 p.m.
Following Friday's opener, the Comets and War Hawks will play a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday. There will be a 30 minute intermission between games. This series will represent McMurry's ASC home opener.
The links below are good for all three games this weekend.
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LAST TIME OUT – The War Hawks (2-7-1, 0-3 ASC) have dropped four straight games since their dramatic 16th inning walk-off on Feb. 15, falling in a three-game series at Ozarks and on Tuesday to Austin College in a home midweek game. Trailing 4-3 after a two-run fourth inning, McMurry allowed the 'Roos to add pairs of runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings for the win.
SCOUTING THE COMETS – UT Dallas (6-3, 3-0 ASC) rides into the weekend on a three-game win streak, sweeping Hardin-Simmons last weekend to open conference play. The Comets opened the season with six games on the West Coast, including games with No. 21 California Lutheran (3-0 loss) and No. 1 Chapman (16-6 loss).
UTD's best hitter this season has been junior A.J. Liu with 18 hits and a .500 batting average. He also has four triples, four doubles, nine runs and six RBI. Blake Birdwell (1-1) has been the top pitcher this season with a 1.62 ERA in 16.2 innings, the most innings on the team thus far.
SERIES HISTORY – UTD leads the all-time series with a 23-14 record. The Comets have won the last four games of the series, including a series sweep last season in Abilene with 15-11, 11-9 and 7-6 victories. UTD also won a single non-conference game in 2018. McMurry won the last contest in Richardson, earning a 10-0 mercy-rule victory in seven innings. McMurry's last win over UTD in Abilene came in 2016.
FREE BASEBALL FINALES – McMurry has been to extra innings in its last two series finales this season, including a 16th inning walk-off win versus St. Thomas and an 11th inning heartbreaker last weekend at Ozarks. McMurry also went to eight innings against Schreiner in its second game of the season, winning 8-6 in what was scheduled to be a seven-inning game.
MORE TRIPLES – Last year, McMurry finished with four triples all season. In just the first six games of this year, McMurry totaled seven triples. The program record for triples in a season is 19, set in 2005. Catcher Reed Hodges leads the way with two triples on the campaign.
SAM I AM – Junior utility player Sam Hillyer has brought the offense for McMurry this season, leading the starting lineup with a .385/.538/.744 slash line. He is batting 15-for-39 with three homers, one triple, three doubles, eight walks, eight runs and 12 RBI this season. He had the game-winning homer against UST in McMurry's last home series.
CARNAHAN HEATING UP – Junior Marty Carnahan has been McMurry's hottest hitter of late, batting .375 in 24 at-bats. In seven starts, he has nine hits – four of which are extra-base hits – and six RBI. He has three doubles and hit a grand slam against St. Thomas two weeks ago. The junior has also stolen seven bases to lead the team and rank second in the ASC. He stole two against Austin College.
BYINGTON BACK ON THE BENCH – Long-time McMurry skipper John Byington is one of the ASC's longest tenured coaches, as he enters his 12th season at the helm. The former Texas A&M standout also spent 10 years prior as an assistant coach, making this season his 22nd overall with the program.
LEE IS BACK – One of McMurry Baseball's all-time greats made his return to campus as an assistant coach this offseason, as Byington added Josh Lee to his staff back in August. Lee was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in 2004 following an All-American, an ASC Player of the Year and ASC Championship campaign as a utility player.
SILVER ANNIVERSARY – After a 47-year hiatus, McMurry Baseball restored its program in 1996 and will now enter its 25th season of modern era baseball. In that span, the War Hawks have celebrated four American Southwest Conference Championships and four NCAA Regional appearances in 1998, 2001, 2004 and 2008.
SEEKING A RETURN TO PROMINENCE – The War Hawks hold an all-time modern record of 577-484-3 for a 54.2 winning percentage. McMurry's tie with Schreiner this year marks just the third draw since 1996. McMurry will look for their first winning season since 2015, where the team finished 31-13 overall and made a four-game run in the National Christian College Athletic Association Central Region tournament as an independent.
