BB splits with McMurry University

03/21/08

Belton, TX - The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor baseball team broke open a tie game with a six-run eighth inning and the Cru held on for a game two win and a doubleheader split with McMurry University Friday afternoon in Belton. UMHB took game two 11-6 after falling 3-0 in game one. The Cru is now 18-5 overall and 7-2 in American Southwest Conference West Division play. McMurry University is 15-10 overall and 5-4 in the ASC West Division.

The Cru battled back from an early 4-0 deficit and put the game away with a five-run eighth inning on the way to that 11-6 game two victory. Steven Yurchick led off the game with a solo home run for McMurry and Stephen Derrick added a three-run shot to make it 4-0 McMurry in the top of the third. Brady Honeycutt's RBI single make it 4-1 in the bottom of the fourth and Honeycutt added a two-out grand slam in the bottom of the fifth to put UMHB on top 5-4. Weston Franco's two-run single gave McMurry a 6-5 lead in the top of the seventh, but Adam Froeschl tied the game when he doubled home Honeycutt in the bottom of the seventh. In the bottom of the eighth, Honeycutt beat out a double-play attempt by McMurry when he dove into first and the go-ahead run scored for the Cru on the play. Earnest Pena added a three-run triple and scored on Froeschl's single to make it 11-6 UMHB. Tanner Vaughan used a double-play ball and a fly out to retire McMurry in the top of the ninth to get the win and raise his record to 2-0 on the year. Kyle Martin took the loss for McMurry to drop to 0-5 on the year. Froeschl was 4-6 for UMHB and Honeycutt went 3-5 with a career-high six RBI for UMHB. Yurchick had three hits for McMurry.

McMurry used a dominating pitching performance from Cody Curry to take a 3-0 decision in game one. Curry tossed a complete-game, three-hitter, striking out five and walking three. He improved to 5-0 on the season. Derrick's solo homer in the top of the second was all the offense Curry would need. Derek David added an RBI single in the third and Yurchick doubled home another insurance run in the fifth for McMurry. Adrian Montoya took the loss for UMHB after giving up seven hits and three runs before leaving the game after he was hit by a line drive in the top of the sixth inning. Josh Welch struck out four of the six batters he faced in relief for the Cru. Yurchick had two of McMurry's eight hits in the game.

The Cru will continue its home stand with four more games next week. UMHB will open the week with a 2:00 PM single game against Southwestern Assemblies of God on Tuesday. The Cru will then host Texas Lutheran University for a three-game ASC West Division series on Friday and Saturday.