ABILENE, Texas – McMurry University Baseball celebrated nine of its seniors who played for the final time at Walt Driggers Field on Saturday afternoon, as Sul Ross State completed a three-game sweep of the War Hawks with two wins in American Southwest Conference action.

McMurry honored Matthew Bass, Hunter Brooks, Mike Gonzales, Sam Hillyer, Kyle Keever, Justin Kutz, Chris Lewis, Ryan Potter and Kyle Strickland with a special presentation prior to the second game of the doubleheader. All nine seniors appeared in Saturday's games.

Sul Ross (12-18, 9-15) clinched the series with a devastating 20-5 win in the first game and secured the sweep with a 15-12 victory that came down to the wire.
McMurry drops to a 9-24, 5-19 record.

 
Game 1: Sul Ross State 20, McMurry 5 (7 innings)
Sul Ross State scored at least two runs in every inning except the seventh en route to victory.

McMurry had seven hits in the loss, led by Sam Hillyer and Josh De La Rosa with two hits each. Justin Kutz, Blake Beach and Christian Oliver also added a hit each, including Beach's first collegiate home run. Kutz and De La Rosa both had a double apiece, and De La Rosa added a stolen base.

Ryan Potter had a sacrifice fly in the first inning to score Javier Rosa for McMurry's first run, while Jonah Bailey drew a bases loaded walk in the final inning for the team's last run of the game.

Freshman Jackson Newkham led McMurry on the mound, closing the game with 1.2 scoreless innings. He allowed just one hit and did not allow a walk.

Pitchers of record:
W – Isaiah Moya (3-3)
L – Nick Hamel (1-4)
 

Game 2: Sul Ross State 15, McMurry 12
The War Hawks brought competitive fire in the nightcap after celebrating its seniors, rattling off 18 hits in an offensive showdown. However, Sul Ross State used a seven run third inning and six runs in the final three frames to power past the War Hawks for the sweep.

McMurry took a 3-2 lead in the second inning with a two-run home off the bat of Javier Rosa, scoring himself and Kyle Strickland. Rosa was McMurry's leading hitter, tying a school record for the second time this season with five hits on the day, including two homers. He also had a career-high five RBI.
Prior to Rosa's first home run, McMurry answered a 1-0 deficit in the first with a sac fly by Nick Hamel to score Rosa.

In the third inning, Sul Ross stole momentum again with a seven run inning. But McMurry did not give up there, answering with three runs to make it a manageable deficit. Sam Hillyer began the scoring with an RBI double and later scored on a fielding error. The third run of the frame can on an RBI single by Kyle Strickland.

The fifth inning saw Rosa strike again with an RBI single to right field, bringing home Kyle Keever.

Now trailing 9-7 with four unanswered runs, McMurry tied the game in exciting fashion with a Sam Hillyer home run over the center field wall. He was followed by Josh De La Rosa in the six hole, who swung at the first pitch he saw and drove it over the left field wall for the go-ahead score.

Despite taking the loss, senior Matthew Bass proved to be McMurry's most effective pitcher by keeping his team alive in the run. In 4.1 innings of relief, he allowed three hits on six hits, four walks and six strikeouts. He threw 94 pitches and just ran out of gas in the seventh frame, allowing the go ahead run.

McMurry's 10-9 lead was erased in the seventh inning by three RBI singles by the Lobos, but Rosa would come through again with a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh to make it 12-11. The team's traded runs again in the eighth with Sul Ross scoring on a wild pitch and Rosa ripping an RBI single.

The Lobos would secure the win in the ninth with two insurance runs, but had to work out of a bases loaded jam to secure it. McMurry had three batters reach courtesy of a walk, a single and a hit by pitch, but stranded the tying runs on base with a pop out.


Pitchers of record:
W – Connor Archer (1-0)
L – Matthew Bass (2-2)
S – Ian Craigie (1)
 
 
On Deck:
McMurry will close its season next weekend across town with a three-game series at Hardin-Simmons. First pitch from HSU is set for Friday, April 30 at 7 p.m. The season ends Saturday with a doubleheader at 1 p.m.