Game 1 Box |
Game 2 BoxABILENE, Texas - McMurry and
Concordia-Texas split a Saturday doubleheader at Walt Driggers Field with
the Tornados taking game one 8-6 in extra innings and McMurry took a 4-3
win in the series finale to avoid the three-game sweep.
In the
second game with one out McMurry won the contest in the top of the seventh
thanks to a one-out hidden ball trick when Concordia had put two runners
on base.
The Tornados moved to 16-12 overall and 8-4 in the
American Southwest Conference West Division while the War Hawks moved to
8-19 overall and 5-7 in league play. Below is a recap of each
game:
Game Two: McMurry 4 Concordia-Texas
Greg Guse hit the game-tying solo home run in the
bottom of the fifth inning,
Dylan De Leon hit the go-ahead solo homer in the
bottom of the sixth, and Guse then tagged out baserunner Kris Pearce after
taking the ball from reliever
Jake Mullin after a meeting just off the mound with
runners on first and second in the top of the seventh to key a 4-3 victory
over Concordia-Texas.
Guse's homer was the first of the season for
the senior, which tied the game at three before DeLeon's second home run
of the season gave McMurry the lead in the bottom of the sixth.
McMurry brought Mullin in to close, and he struck out Justin Beasley to
lead off the seventh then surrendered a single to Collin Janssen and
walked Robert Brown to put runners on first and second with one out.
Pearce had pinch ran after the single by Beasley. After Mullin
walked Brown, Guse set up the play with Mullin.
“I told him I
wanted him to throw one pitch, and then after that to turn around and make
a pickoff attempt,” Guse said.
After catching the “pickoff”
attempt, Guse ran to Mullin and behaved as if he was frustrated that
Mullin had missed a sign.
“I told him to make sure that he didn't
touch any part of the dirt on the mound or it would be a balk,” said Guse.
“I thought of the play about a week ago and ran it by [Jake] Mullin and
[Clay] Schubert. They both said it wouldn't work, but everything that
happened in the inning was scripted. So I just ran back, never gave the
ball to Jake and tagged him,”
Initially the field umpire did not
call Pearce out, however after a disputation from Guse and McMurry head
coach
John Byington, they appealed to the home
plate umpire who ruled Peace out.
CTX's head coach Tommy Boggs was
promptly ejected after he disputed the call.
With two outs, Brown
was caught stealing by War Hawks catcher
Charlie Hejny who threw to Guse to apply the final
put out.
Guse had not played the entire series until the third game
and entered the game in the top of the fifth. His solo home run came on a
1-2 pitch and he drove it over the leftfield wall for his first homer of
the season. The senior from Pearland said that it's been a tough season,
but was glad to get his chance.
“Especially as a senior leader
don't want to mope since I haven't been playing as much; I have just kept
working hard,” he said. [Coach] Byington told me to get loose, and I just
did my job.”
Mullin picked up his first save of the season and
Spencer Smith picked up his first victory
on the mound in relief. DeLeon drove home two runs to lead the War
Hawks.
The Tornados' Colton Gommert drove home two runs in the
losing effort for Concordia-Texas and Scott Hays picked up the loss in his
first outing of the season in relief.
Game One: Concordia-Texas 8
McMurry 6
Concordia-Texas rallied to score three runs in its final
two at bats and kept McMurry scoreless to take an 8-6 victory. Bucky Bryan
hit a pinch-hit, two-run double in the top of the eighth, which broke a
six-all tie and guaranteed the series for the Tornados.
The two
teams exchanged punches in the middle innings and knotted the score at
five through five innings. McMurry's
Jake Mullin hit a sacrifice fly to score
Jacob Bermejo giving the War Hawks a 6-5
lead.
However, in the seventh Robert Brown dropped a squeeze bunt
that scored Brent Schaekel to tie the score at six. When McMurry was held
scoreless in the bottom of the seventh to send the game to extra
innings.
Bryant delivered a one-out double that scored Kris Peace
and Kyle Bieschke, and reliever Bryant Hernandez set McMurry down in order
in the bottom of the eight to secure the victory. Hernandez moved to 2-1
on the season.
Deen Coleman was charged with the loss for the War
Hawks to fall to 0-1 on the year.
Robert Brown and Bryant each
drove home two for Concordia and
Tyler Cox drove home two for McMurry in the losing
effort.