ABILENE, Texas – McMurry University Baseball had much to celebrate this weekend, wrapping up the regular season Saturday with two dramatic wins over Concordia Texas to finish a three-game sweep at Walt Driggers Field.
In between the two doubleheader games, McMurry honored nine seniors playing at home for perhaps the final time. Those seniors are Javier Rosa, Landon Caldwell, Reed Hodges, Derek Hostas, Christian Oliver, Marty Carnahan, Trent Lee, Xavier Hughey and Nick Hamel.
The War Hawks extended an eight-game winning streak Saturday and also locked up the No. 4 seed in the American Southwest Conference tournament, as they will play No. 5 Mary Hardin-Baylor on Thursday, May 5 at 3 p.m. in Marshall, Texas.
McMurry finishes the regular season 23-16 overall and 17-13 in the ASC – its first winning season since 2015 as an independent. The team will also compete in its first ASC Championship Tournament since 2012 – one year prior to its transition in and later out of NCAA Division II.
Meanwhile, Concordia Texas finishes 14-23 overall and 13-17 in the conference and owns the No. 7 seed in the tournament.
Game 1: McMurry 9, Concordia 8 (7 innings)
Javier Rosa was the star of the opener, starting senior day with a walk-off single in the seventh inning of a thrilling 9-8 win.
The War Hawks trailed 8-6 heading to the final inning, but kept hopes alive with a leadoff single from ASC MVP hopeful Nick Hamel – who entered the weekend as the league's leader in batting average. He was then doubled over to third by Josh Dyer, putting the tying run in scoring position.
The Tornados responded with a strikeout, but hit Xavier Escobar with a pitch to load the bases. Dylan Lee entered in a pinch hitting role and grounded home Hamel to make it 8-7 with two outs. This brought up Rosa, who quickly fell behind 0-2 and was down to his final strike. He found a pitch to hit and sent it to centerfield, driving home Dyer and Escobar to win the game.
Much like Friday's opener, McMurry fell behind early as CTX tacked on four runs in the second inning. McMurry got two of those back with a home run off the bat of Dylan Abbott. Abbott's hit was left-center bound at the warning track and hit off a leaping glove and over the fence for a homer.
The War Hawks catapulted back into the lead in the third thanks to Abbott, who doubled home Hamel and Reed Hodges for the tying and go-ahead run at the time. Prior to his hit, Hamel doubled home Blake Beach.
Hamel drew a bases loaded walk the next frame to make it 6-4, but a deep flyout after him would strand the bases full. This opened the window for the Tornados to strike again, rallying for four more runs in the fifth.
Dylan Schafer was tasked to pitch in relief for senior Marty Carnahan, who despite the runs allowed worked out of some key jams to keep his team in the game. Schafer shut down CTX for 1.2 innings, keeping McMurry within two runs. Veteran reliever Seth Parriette came on for the seventh, pitching a flawless frame with one strikeout.
This set up the dramatic finish, where Parriette earned the win and improved to 1-0 on the season.
Hamel and Abbott led the way with two hits apiece. Hodges, Dyer, Rosa and Koy Carpenter accounted for the rest. Despite not winning, Concordia outhit McMurry 13-8 in the game.
Game 2: McMurry 8, Concordia Texas 6
With both teams securing spots in the postseason tournament already, the regular season finale saw many players from both teams get involved. A total of 38 players entered the game – 20 from McMurry and 18 from Concordia.
The game remained tied at 6-6 most of the way, but the War Hawks once again rose to the top and pulled off an 8-6 win in the regular season finale. The win capped off its second straight ASC series sweep and its third straight ASC series win.
The go ahead runs came in the seventh inning, as McMurry drew five consecutive walks. Tommy Cardenas started things with a one-out walk and would go on to steal second and third. After walks to Hamel and Reid Brock right behind him, Logan Mercer picked up the RBI walk for Cardenas to score. Xavier Hughey followed after, continuing his big game with an RBI walk. CTX stranded the bases full with two outs afterward.
Freshman Carson Fallowfield made his collegiate debut in the seventh inning and was one of six pitchers for McMurry in the nightcap. He tossed a scoreless frame and left on top, earning the win. Hamel entered in the ninth and retired three straight with a strikeout, closing with a save.
Hamel has six saves this season, tying three overs for the single season record. It was last set in 2016 by Juan Valadez. Hamel is now also the all-time leader in career saves with 10, passing Valadez, Kyle Martin, Byron Pierce and Jim Wollscheid who held the record together at eight.
Freshman Titus Ashton led the staff with a game-high 4.0 innings of work, allowing just one run on three hits with four strikeouts. The staff also included starter Jonathan Enriquez, Clayton Banks and Grayson Winter. McMurry's pitchers allowed just six hits combined – all singles.
McMurry found eight runs on nine hits, but drew eight walks to aid its efforts. Mercer was the heavy hitter for the lineup, going 2-for-2 with a double, a triple, two walks, two runs and an RBI. Cardenas, Hughey, Dyer, Landon Caldwell, Christian Oliver, Dylan Lee and Braden Fryer all had one hit in the finale.
On Deck
The American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament begins May 5-7 and will be divided into two brackets – Red and Blue. McMurry will be in the Blue Bracket hosted by regular season champion East Texas Baptist in Marshall, Texas. The Blue Bracket includes the 1, 4, 5 and 8 seeds.
McMurry's first round game is Thursday, May 5 at 3 p.m. against No. 5 UMHB. The other first round game involves No.1 ETBU and No. 8 LeTourneau. The four will duke it out in a double elimination tournament which will end Saturday, May 7.
The Red Bracket includes the 2-3-6-7 seeds and they will play a four-team tournament at UT Dallas in Richardson, Texas. The competing teams are No. 2 UT Dallas, No. 3 Belhaven, No. 6 Hardin-Simmons and No. 7 Concordia Texas.
The Blue and Red Bracket winners will meet on May 12-14 in the Gold Bracket to decide the ASC Champion. The highest-remaining seed will host the Gold Bracket.
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