ABILENE, Texas – For the first time since returning to NCAA Division III in 2017, McMurry University Baseball won a three-game American Southwest Conference series against crosstown rival Hardin-Simmons with a doubleheader split Saturday at Walt Driggers Field.
After a 10-5 victory on Friday night, the War Hawks (15-16, 11-13 ASC) clinched the series with a dramatic 5-4 win in Saturday's opener. Prior to this weekend, McMurry's last series win over HSU came in 2010.
The Cowboys (16-13, 10-11 ASC) avoided the sweep with a 7-1 win in the nightcap.
McMurry now leads the all-time series with a 40-36 record. Furthermore, McMurry head coach John Byington picked up his 250th career win with the series opening victory.
Game 1: McMurry 5, HSU 4
Saturday's opener took some late inning heroics, as McMurry scored the tying a go ahead runs in the sixth inning before slamming the door in the seventh to clinch the series.
The Cowboys trailed 3-1 heading into the sixth, but ripped away the lead with three runs on two homers from Jett Forrest and Gannon Azios. Senior pitcher Marty Carnahan shook off the runs and retired the final two outs of the inning.
Down one run, McMurry started a sixth inning rally with a leadoff single from Nick Hamel – his sixth of seven hits in the series. He later scored the tying run on a sac fly by Xavier Escobar deep to right field. In the next at-bat, Blaze Rickerson singled home Dylan Abbott for the go-ahead run.
Hamel then moved from first base to the mound in the seventh, recording the final three outs for his fourth save of the season. Carnahan improved to 3-1 with the win, finishing 6.0 innings with four runs allowed on seven hits, one walk and four strikeouts.
Much like the series opener, McMurry started with two runs in the opening frame. Senior Reed Hodges continued his strong series with an RBI single to bring home Koy Carpenter. Later, Blake Beach scored on a double play ball with the runners on the corners and nobody out.
Hamel singled home another run in the third inning to make it 3-1 – a score that held until the sixth. He led the way with two hits, while Beach, Hodges, Abbott, Escobar and Rickerson accounted for the rest.
Game 2: HSU 7, McMurry 1
The War Hawks struck first in game three, clinging to a 1-0 lead most of the way with a sweep on the mind. Instead, the Cowboys broke up a no-hitter in the fifth inning and charged ahead to a 7-1 victory.
Despite taking the loss on the mound, Jonathan Enriquez started strong with just two baserunners reaching via walk in the first four innings. He would later leave after HSU tied the game 1-1 in the fifth with the bases loaded and nobody out.
The Cowboys brought home the go-ahead runs on a two-RBI single by Luke Kirkbride, then added another on an RBI groundout. HSU struck for one more in the seventh and two in the eighth.
McMurry attempted a rally in the eighth with back-to-back singles from Beach and Hodges, but a double play ball killed the momentum. The ninth also started with a leadoff single by Logan Mercer, but nothing would come of it.
Beach, Hodges and Mercer each had two hits on the day, while Hamel, Dyer and Rickerson added one each. Dyer finished with a double and a stolen base.
Hodges, who accounted for the lone run on Mercer's RBI single in the first inning, extended a career-high hitting streak to 16 games over the weekend. Hodges has hit safely in 24 of 26 games and has reached safely in all of them.
On Deck
The War Hawks will have next week off before picking up a midweek road matchup at Schreiner on April 19 at 2 p.m.
