BROWNWOOD, Texas – McMurry University Baseball swept a nearby rival and punched its ticket to the American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament on Saturday, earning two wins against Howard Payne in Brownwood, Texas.
After being picked last in this year's preseason poll, McMurry (20-16, 14-13 ASC) officially exceeded those expectations by clinching a spot in the postseason tournament before the final weekend of the regular season.
The War Hawks currently sit fourth in the conference standings in a tie with Mary Hardin-Baylor. McMurry owns the tiebreaker after taking two of three from the Cru back in February. McMurry also owns the longest current win streak in the league with five wins in a row.
Game 1: McMurry 7, Howard Payne 5
The War Hawks never trailed in the opener, but had to scratch and claw its way to victory in the final inning. Howard Payne (11-25, 6-21 ASC) rallied back from a 7-0 deficit with five runs, but stranded the tying run at the plate to end it.
Senior Marty Carnahan earned the win following six scoreless innings. He recorded two outs in the seventh, but the Yellow Jackets struck for five runs on six hits in a comeback attempt. Travis Beauchamp came on to close, forcing the final out on his first batter to earn the save.
McMurry piled on the run support in the third inning, starting with back-to-back hits by Reed Hodges and Nick Hamel to put runners in scoring position. Dylan Abbott brought both home with an RBI single, then scored two at-bats later on a double by Javier Rosa. Koy Carpenter added two more with a two-out single to score Rosa and Blaze Rickerson.
The fourth inning proved to be the difference maker, as McMurry scored the deciding runs in the top half. Hodges led off with a walk and stole second, putting himself in scoring position for Hamel. The seemingly automatic senior drove Hodges home with a single. Rickerson singled home one later, bringing home Josh Dyer for the seventh run.
Hamel had a three-hit game with one double and two singles to extend an eight-game hitting streak, while Abbott and Rosa added a pair of hits. Rosa and Tommy Cardenas chipped in a double each, while Hodges and Rickerson stole one base. Carpenter, Rickerson and Hodges had a hit.
Game 2: McMurry 9, Howard Payne 3
With a chance to clinch a guaranteed spot in the conference tournament, McMurry finished off the three-game sweep with a 9-3 win in the series finale.
The War Hawks did not trail in the series until the final game, as the Yellow Jackets took a 2-1 lead in the fourth. After McMurry tied it back up with a run in the sixth, Hamel drove in the go-ahead run with a bloop single in the seventh. The team added insurance over the final three innings and never looked back from there.
McMurry recorded 17 hits – just two off the season-high – en route to victory. Dylan Abbott led the way with a career-high four hits on the day, driving home three runs and scoring twice. He had three singles and a double over five at-bats.
Logan Mercer, Dylan Lee, Hamel, Hodges and Rickerson had two hits each, while Rosa, Blake Beach and Braden Fryer finished with one hit, including a run-scoring triple from Beach.
Defensively, McMurry allowed just three runs on three hits.
Jonathan Enriquez pitched a quality start for his second win of the season, completing 6.0 innings with two runs allowed on just two hits. He walked a pair but struck out four. Beauchamp entered for an inning and held the lead, then passed the baton to Hamel who slammed the door shut with two scoreless innings.
Rickerson singled home the first run in the second inning, but HPU struck for two in the fourth for its first lead. Abbott tied things up again with a single to score Hodges in the sixth. It was all McMurry from there, as Hamel drove home the go-ahead run and Abbott doubled in two more in the seventh.
Beach's RBI triple scored Rickerson in the eighth to make it 6-3. McMurry tacked on three safety runs in the ninth with a sac fly from Lee, an RBI groundout from Rickerson and a wild pitch to score Abbott.
On Deck
The War Hawks will close the regular season at home next weekend, welcoming Concordia Texas to Walt Driggers Field on Friday, April 29 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, April 30 at 1 p.m. Saturday will be a doubleheader and senior day.
The conference tournament first round begins May 5-7. East Texas Baptist will host the blue side of the bracket, while the red bracket will be hosted by either UT Dallas or Belhaven.
