ABILENE, Texas –McMurry University Baseball completed an entertaining series with American Southwest Conference leader East Texas Baptist on Saturday, splitting a tightly-contested doubleheader at Walt Driggers field to wrap up a three-game set.

The Tigers – who entered the week with an 11-1 conference record – won the series opener on Friday, but McMurry would strike back with a 5-4 win in seven innings to even the set. The rubber match that followed was decided in 11 innings, as ETBU escaped with a 10-9 win.

The War Hawks move to 8-13 overall and 5-10 in conference play, but become one of just two teams to defeat ETBU in conference play. The Tigers – who are receiving votes in the national rankings – move to 16-7 overall and 13-2 in the ASC.

Game 1: McMurry 5, ETBU 4 (7 innings)

McMurry lifted the lid with five runs in the first two innings, taking a commanding lead early, but had to fight off a late surge by the Tigers en route to a 5-4 win.

Senior Marty Carnahan had one of the best outings of his career, earning his first decision of the season with 6.2 innings completed. His exit came in the seventh inning with his team ahead 5-2, as the Tigers threated with the bases loaded.

Braxton Briones was called on to get the final out. Despite allowing a two RBI single to make it 5-4, Briones slammed the door and forced a flyout to end the game in dramatic fashion. The save was his third of the season.

Carnahan allowed just three hits in his outing, while posting a career-high nine strikeouts.

Offensively, McMurry wasted no time getting on the board with a leadoff single by Blake Beach and an RBI triple by Reed Hodges right after. Freshman Dylan Lee would go on to drive in Hodges that inning, netting a pair of early runs.

McMurry had three runs in the second inning, as Hodges hit a sac fly to score Javier Rosa and Lee singled home both Koy Carpenter and Blake Beach to make it 5-0. Lee went on to finish 2-for-3 with three RBI.

Carnahan minimized ETBU's hit opportunities up until the fourth inning, as a single by Christopher Robinson and a homer by Jase Jones netted two runs. ETBU was limited to four hits on the day.

The War Hawks had seven hits, led by Lee with two. Beach, Hodges and Rosa were joined by freshmen Dylan Abbott and Xavier Escobar with hits.

Game 2: ETBU 10, McMurry 9 (11 innings)

The first two games involved wire-to-wire leads by each team, but the third game proved to be a see-saw battle with multiple lead changes. The Tigers would do just enough in extra innings, grinding out a series win with a 10-9 victory.

The War Hawks gave up four runs in the opening frame, but did not lie down. Pitcher Kaden Sebastian recovered with three scoreless innings on the mound and his offense scored five unanswered by the fourth inning, giving McMurry the lead. Reed Hodges was the key factor in this momentum shift, hitting a pair of RBI singles in the third and fourth innings.

ETBU scored singular runs in the fifth and sixth frames, reclaiming the lead at 6-5, but a pair of wild pitches in the bottom half allowed McMurry to go back on top, 7-6.

The lead changes continued as Jones hit his third homer in three games, putting the Tigers back ahead 8-7 with a two-run shot. After the seventh inning stretch, Dylan Abbott smacked a leadoff double and later came home on an two-out error, tying things back up at 8-8.

Freshman Grayson Winter had a tough task on the mound, as he entered in the eighth inning with hopes of keeping his team alive. Outside of two hits and a hit batter, he was flawless and kept the Tigers off the scoreboard. In both innings, ETBU reached a runner at third, but were denied any runs.

After ETBU's Jagger Neely worked past the War Hawks in the ninth, the two rivals moved into extra frames. After a save effort in the first game, Braxton Briones returned out for the 10th and kept the Tigers off the board.

In the 11th, Carson Wilson would break through with a single to the outfield, scoring a pair of runners to put his team ahead 10-8. Momentum seemed to be on the side of ETBU, but McMurry countered quickly and began to rally.

The bottom half started with a single by Reed Hodges – who led the team with three hits on the day. Hodges caught all three games in the series. In the next at-bat, sophomore Josh Dyer smashed one deep into left field, but the ball smacked off the top of the wall for an RBI double. This made it 10-9.

Things got even more tense as Blaze Rickerson hit an infield single and moved up to second on a bad throw, but Dyer was unable to advance past third keeping both men in scoring position for the time being. Abbott was intentionally walked after that, loading the bases with one out.

Xavier Escobar was the next hitter. The freshman worked a full count and battled throughout, but was called out on strikes on a close check swing call. ETBU then got the final out on a bang-bang play at first, stranding the tying run on third.

ETBU had 17 hits and overcame five errors, while McMurry's defense limited itself to just one error. The team finished with 10 hits, including two each from Dyer and Abbott.  

On Deck

The War Hawks have another tough challenge next week, as they hit the road for a three-game set against defending conference champion and nationally-ranked UT Dallas. The series begins Friday, March 25 at 2 p.m.