ABILENE, Texas - Hendrix suffered its first series sweep of the season as McMurry took all three games in their weekend series at Walt Driggers Field.
Game 1 (L, 4-2)
Shaun Pope led off the game with a solo shot, and
Ryan Lang's bunt single scored
Austin Rabago to give Hendrix an early 2-0 lead on Friday night, but the Warriors were kept off the board for the rest of the game as the McMurry pitching staff combined for eight shutout innings after taking the lead in the third inning. The WarHawks added another run in the fourth for good measure, and Hendrix could only muster four base-runners over the last seven innings.
Pope,
Zane Nolan, and
Sebastian Liquori all recorded multi-hit games, while
Aiden Leggett fired 5.0 relief innings of one-run ball with 6 strikeouts.
Game 2 (L, 9-8)
Hendrix looked set to even the series at one game apiece after
Giancarlo Digiacomo's go-ahead three-run double in the top of the eighth in the top of the eighth, but McMurry retook the lead in the home eighth to take the game and the series.
Both teams collected 11 hits on the afternoon. McMurry struck first, scoring a single run in the first before a two-spot from Hendrix in the visitor second.
Reed Ketcham singled in
Ryne Dodson from third to tie the game at 1-1, and
Chase Harris' two-out single scored Ketcham for the go-ahead run. The game was deadlocked at 2-2 heading into the third inning. Digiacomo brought in
Austin Rabago in from third on a sacrifice fly, and Ketcham once again brought in Dodson in the second straight inning to make it 4-2. Rabago singled in Rabago in the fifth to give Hendrix a 5-2 advantage.
McMurry got two runs back in the fifth, and went ahead 7-5 in the home seventh before Digiacomo's 3-RBI double in the eighth. The Warriors got the tying run on third base on two occasions in the ninth but were unable to convert and extend the game.
Rabago led the Warriors with three hits in five at-bats, while Digiacomo tallied a season-high 4 RBIs.
Game 3 (L, 16-11)
It was a loud start for the home side in Game 3 as McMurry outscored Hendrix 12-1 over the first three frames.
Hendrix's first run of the game came on a dropped third strike that allowed
Zane Nolan to score from third. It was not until the fourth when the Warriors got back on the board. Nolan worked a lead-off walk to make way for Digiacomo, who smoked a two-run shot to left field to cut the lead to nine. Liquori then singled in Dodson with the aid of a throwing error that made it a 12-4 game.
McMurry added onto their lead with a grand slam in the home fourth but were shut out by the Hendrix bullpen over the final four frames.
The Warriors tacked on seven runs over the next four innings but were shut out in the ninth to kill off the comeback effort.
Despite 12 total hits for Hendrix,
Ryne Dodson was the lone Warrior to record a multi-hit game, going 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI.
Cole Joyner fired four shutout innings of three-hit ball with a pair of strikeouts in his extended relief appearance.
