Abilene, TX – The McMurry War Hawks defeated Centenary 8-3 in game one of a doubleheader at Walt Driggers Field.
Centenary took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. McMurry responded in the bottom of the inning when Collin Bruning doubled home Riley Hood to tie the game at 1-1.
McMurry took the lead in the bottom of the third inning. After Hood singled and Bruning singled, Michael Smosna singled to score Hood. Later in the inning, Blake Beach walked with the bases loaded to score Bruning, putting McMurry ahead 3-1.
Centenary added a run in the top of the fourth inning to narrow the lead to 3-2. McMurry extended their lead in the bottom of the fourth. After Koy Carpenter singled and Hood walked, Bruning singled, driving in both Carpenter and Hood to make the score 5-2.
In the bottom of the sixth, McMurry added two more runs. Nolan Scherencel doubled, and Beckham Paul singled to score both Scherencel and Bruning, increasing the lead to 7-2.
Centenary scored a solo home run in the top of the seventh, but McMurry answered in the bottom half of the inning when Hood doubled to score Carpenter, making the final score 8-3.
Jonathan Enriquez earned the win for McMurry, pitching six innings and allowing two runs on six hits. Braydon Durst pitched the final three innings for the War Hawks, finishing with four strikeouts and allowing one run on one hit.
The McMurry War Hawks defeated Centenary 7-3 in game two of a doubleheader, extending the War Hawk's win streak to nine and 13-2 in their last fifteen games.
McMurry took an early lead in the bottom of the first inning. After Carson Jones singled and Ty Nelson was hit by a pitch, Nolan Scherencel doubled, driving in Jones and Nelson. Josh Mueller then singled to score Scherencel, giving McMurry a 3-0 lead.
McMurry added another run in the bottom of the second inning. Jones reached base on an error and demonstrated his speed by advancing to third on the throwing error he reached first on. Jones then scored on a sacrifice fly by Nelson to make it 4-0.
Centenary scored two runs in the top of the fourth inning and another in the seventh, narrowing the War Hawk lead to 4-3.
McMurry extended their lead in the bottom of the eighth inning. After Caden Roy was hit by a pitch and Blake Beach singled, Nelson reached on a fielder's choice, scoring Roy. Riley Hood followed with a sacrifice fly to score Beach. Michael Smosna then doubled to score Nelson, making the final score 7-3.
Hunter Poe earned the win for McMurry, pitching five innings, allowing two runs on five hits, and striking out three. Titus Ashton, Gabriel Aragon, and Grayson Winter combined to finish the game in relief only allowing one run to score over four innings.
McMurry finishes with a 31-9 overall record and 22-8 in conference. The 31 wins are a new regular-season record for the War Hawk Baseball program.
Next week, they will travel to Dell Diamond in Round Rock to compete for the SCAC Conference championship as the #3 seed in a double-elimination tournament starting May 2nd. Game time will be determined.
