ABILENE, TEXAS – Looking to rebound from a wild season-opening loss at the hands of Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference foe Schreiner University, McMurry University gave the visiting Mountaineers all they could handle in both ends of the series finale doubleheader Sunday, Feb. 12.
Just as they did in the set's lid-lifter, McMurry responded to an early deficit in game one at Edwards Field. Trailing 5-1 after an inning and a half, head coach Josh Lee's squad caught their guests with a three-run second and one-run third. Junior third baseman Josh Dyer (Albany, Texas) belted a two-run single, and sophomore outfielder Casey Turner (Kingswood, Texas) dropped in an RBI safety to aid in the rally.
From that point, Schreiner's pitchers locked up the War Hawks offense to five hits and no runs over their final five at-bats. McMurry's staff was just as stifling, keeping the Mountaineers in check for six successive frames. Schreiner broke the deadlock with two in the ninth behind two hits, a walk, a sacrifice fly and a fielder's choice. The Maroon, Black, and White put two runners on in the bottom of the ninth, but they were stranded to close out the 7-5 defeat.
The War Hawks changed the early script of the previous two contests, bolting out to a 4-0 lead through three innings in Sunday's second match-up. Dyer and Turner came up big again offensively with an RBI each, while Dyer homered. It appeared as if freshman starter Cooper Marshall (Boerne, Texas) would have more than enough margin to work with, striking out five in three and third innings.
However, five walks knocked him out of the game and helped create an opportunity for another Schreiner rally. The Mountaineers plated runs in the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh, with two crossing in the fifth to take a 5-4 lead. McMurry got the potential tying tally in scoring position in their final at-bat but was thwarted.
The Maroon, Black, and White hit the road for a three-game weekend series Friday and Saturday, Feb. 18 and 19. They face the University of St. Thomas at Houston Christian University's field. Game times are 2 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday.