April 19, 2009
GEORGETOWN, Texas - Michael Murphy's 200th career hit highlighted Southwestern's doubleheader split with Hendrix College on Sunday afternoon at Rockwell Field. The Pirates dropped the first game 5-1 before claiming a 10-0 run-rule victory in game two.
Southwestern moves its record to 16-21 (9-11 SCAC) while Hendrix is now 18-21 (10-10 SCAC).
In the first game of the doubleheader, Hendrix College pushed across a pair of runs in the first inning to take an early 2-0 lead. The Warriors extended the lead in the second inning to 3-0, but Mark Noggle's RBI single in the bottom of the frame put the Pirates on the scoreboard and cut the deficit to 3-1.
Hendrix College scored for the third consecutive inning in the top of the third, with a single run to make it a 4-1 contest.
The Warriors tacked on another run in the fifth to extend the lead to 5-1 and the Pirates were unable to push across any more runs the rest of the game, as they fell by the 5-1 score.
Teddy Smoyer improved to 2-4 with the win, while Brantley Freeman incurred the loss for Southwestern. Wheeler Gnat earned his third save of the season.
Kyle Belski and John Wooten each notched a pair of hits to pace the Pirate offense.
In the second game, the Pirates jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning after Michael Murphy notched an RBI single and came around to score on a wild pitch and Ricky Gomez followed with an RBI single. Southwestern extended the lead to 4-0 in the second inning on Wooten's RBI single.
The Pirates added a run in the third on Todd Boone's RBI fielder's choice to make it a 5-0 contest in favor of Southwestern and tacked on another run in the fourth on Gomez's second RBI single of the day to give the Pirates a 6-0 lead.
The score remained 6-0 until the bottom of the eighth, as a pair of wild pitches scored Mark Gruetzner and Wooten before Patrick Keenan's RBI single extended the Pirate lead to 9-0. A bases-loaded walk to Nick Ashford put Southwestern up 10-0 and gave them the run-rule victory.
Murphy's 200th career hit came in the bottom of the fifth on a single up the middle, his third hit of the game.
Southwestern starter Chris Webber was outstanding in only his fourth start of the season, as he pitched six shutout innings while striking out six to pick up his first win of the year and improve to 1-2. Hendrix College starter Gabe Levin incurred the loss.
Murphy, Gomez and Brent McMullen each had three hits for Southwestern, while Wooten scored three runs.
Up next, Southwestern concludes its season with a home game against McMurry on Tuesday, Apr. 21 at 2 p.m. at Rockwell Field.