MARSHALL, Texas – For the first time in a decade, McMurry University Baseball participated in the American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament, opening the double-elimination tournament with a 11-7 loss to Mary Hardin-Baylor in Marshall, Texas on Friday.
The No. 4 seed War Hawks (25-16) started the game with a pair of first inning homers from Reed Hodges and Josh Dyer, stealing away the early momentum. The No. 5 seed Cru (23-17) answered in the third inning then regained the lead for good in the eighth inning to win the tournament opener.
With Friday's loss, McMurry will play No. 8 seed LeTourneau on Saturday at 11 a.m. in an elimination game. The winner of that game will play the loser of UMHB and No. 1 seed East Texas Baptist.
The offensive power was not lacking Friday, as the two sides combined for seven homers. They also combined for 22 hits in a fairly-balanced affair.
With UMHB leading 5-3 after the top half of the third via an RBI single and a grand slam, McMurry snatched the lead back with three more runs. Dyer continued his big day with an RBI single to score Hodges, then Xavier Escobar smashed a homer to left-center to score himself and Dyer.
The 6-5 lead held until the eighth inning, as the Cru hit a pair of two-run singles to take a three run lead. McMurry added one in the bottom half, as Dyer hit his second bomb of the day – a solo shot to left-center. Dyer finished 3-for-4 with a walk, three runs and three RBI.
UMHB pulled away in the ninth with two solo homers. McMurry had no answer in the bottom of the ninth.
Escobar joined Dyer with a two-hit game, while freshman Blaze Rickerson added a double. He and Hodges were joined by Nick Hamel, Javier Rosa and Koy Carpenter in the hit column.
Despite the loss, senior ace Derek Hostas struck out 11 batters without a walk in 7.1 innings of work. He also finished with 117 pitches in the outing.
If McMurry wins its 11 a.m. elimination game against LeTourneau, it will move on to play Saturday night at 7 p.m. The Blue Bracket Championship is set for Sunday at 1 p.m. with another game to follow if necessary.
For more tournament information, click here.
