Clarksville, Ark.-McMurry completed a three-game sweep by defeating the Eagles 5-1 and 9-4 in Saturday's twin-bill at Lonnie R. Qualls Field.
McMurry right-hand starter Dakota Smith held Ozarks (3-6) to one run and six hits in game one of the American Southwest Conference crossover matchup. McMurry (5-3) scored a run in the second inning to go up 1-0, but Andrew Teaster answered by ripping a single to left field to score Cory Briggs in the bottom half of the inning. That would be all Ozarks would manage though, as the Eagles would leave 11 on base during the seven-inning game. McMurry went up 3-1 in the fourth with a two-run single and the visitors got another two out hit, this time in the fifth, to increase their advantage to 4-1. McMurry added an insurance run in the sixth on a solo home run.
Briggs paced Ozarks with a 2-for-3 performance at the plate. Todd Koch (0-1) went the full seven innings and struck out six. Smith moved to 1-1 on the year.
In game two, Ozarks held a 2-1 lead until the fourth when Jake Mullin hit a two-run homer to take the lead back. They added another run in the fifth to increase the gap to 4-2. The Eagles came back in the bottom of the fifth and had a pair of runners reach base with one out. However, McMurry starter Kyle Martin recorded a strikeout and a groundout to end the inning. The Eagles again got two aboard with one out in the sixth, but McMurry stopped the rally with another strikeout and groundout. John Scheuring came in relief in the seventh with no outs and two runners on and promptly struck out three straight to give Ozarks some momentum. Jeremy Hogan followed up in the bottom half of the inning with a two-run homer to tie the game 4-4 and the Eagles appeared to be in rally mode. McMurry, however, scored a run in the eighth to make it 5-4 and then exploded for four runs in the top of the ninth to go ahead 9-4. Ozarks needed a rally in the bottom of the ninth and actually had the tying run on deck with two outs, but reliever Chris Semchenko forced a groundout to end the game.
Scheuring (1-1) took the loss after giving up five runs in two and one-third innings. He fanned a season-high six. Bruce Cameron went six innings as the starter and struck out four. David Smith led Ozarks at the plate with a 2-for-5 performance. Hogan finished with a pair of RBI.
Ozarks will travel to Abilene, Texas, to face Hardin-Simmons University for a three-game series February 27 and February 28.
Topics: Athletics