MARSHALL, Texas – In a wild weekend finale, the East Texas Baptist University fought from behind to complete the three-game sweep over McMurry University. ETBU rallied in extra innings to take game one of the double header on a walk-off grand slam from Casey Combs to win 12-8. Conner Combs untied game two with a solo homerun to right centerfield in the sixth inning to win 3-2.

GAME 1

Conner Combs singled home Jaxon Rader to open the scoring in the bottom of the first, giving ETBU a 1-0 lead. ETBU brought home one more run on an error from the McMurry catcher, followed by an RBI triple from Zach Compton to run the Tiger lead to 3-0 after one inning. ETBU tacked on one run in the fourth inning on a double play, trading one run for two outs to give ETBU a 4-0 lead. Noah Clarkson hit a two-run homerun to cut into the ETBU lead in the top of the fifth inning.

ETBU scored two runs in the bottom half of the fifth inning, one on an error and one on a wild pitch to give ETBU a 6-2 lead. McMurry used a sacrifice fly sandwiched in between two RBI singles to cut the ETBU lead to 6-5. An RBI double in the top of the seventh tied the game at 6-6 before going into extra innings. Randy Crevier hit a two-run homerun in the eighth inning to give McMurry their first lead of the game, 8-6.

Dylan Sumpter hit a solo homerun in the bottom of the eighth inning to jump start an ETBU rally. A Conner Combs RBI fielder's choice tied the game at 8-8, then Casey Combs ultimately ended the game with a pinch hit walk-off grand slam, giving ETBU a 12-8 win.

Rader and Mason Aldredge each had three hits each, to pace the offense at the top of the lineup. Conner Combs and Zach Compton had two hits each. Casey Combs and Conner Combs had four RBI and two RBI respectively in the contest. Rader and Aldredge each scored three runs each as well.

Blake Corbin picked up his second win of the year in relief to move to 2-1 overall this season, allowing two runs on two hits in 1.1 innings pitched. Kyle Loson pitched 5.1 innings and allowed four runs on two hits.

Clarkson and Garrett Hurst had two hits each to lead the team, with Clarkson grabbing three RBI in the loss. Crevier had one hit in one at bat, which was the go ahead homerun in the eighth inning. Tyler Jenkins was tagged with the loss, allowing four runs on two hits in 0.1 innings pitched.

GAME 2

The rubber match between McMurry and ETBU was a lower scoring affair from the previous two games in the series. Matthew Chalk hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the first inning to give the War Hawks a 1-0 lead. Josh Warbington blasted a solo homerun to tie the game at 1-1. Robert White put McMurry back in front with a solo homerun to centerfield to retake the lead 2-1. Aldredge answered with a RBI double scoring Rader to tie the game at 2-2 after three innings. Conner Combs would untie the game in the bottom of the sixth inning with one out to put ETBU out front for good, securing the sweep.

Rader, Aldredge, Conner Combs, Compton, Warbington, Kam Sumrall, and Casey Combs each had one hit in the game for ETBU. Aldredge, Combs, and Warbington each recorded RBI in the win. Derrick Findley pitched 5.2 innings and allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits. Logan Sprinkle picked up the win in relief to move to 3-1 this season. Sprinkle pitched the final 1.1 innings, not allowing a hit to secure the win.

John Eric Cortez picked up the loss, allowing three runs on seven hits in 5.1 innings pitched. White had two of the McMurry five hits, scoring two runs to lead the offense.

ETBU will return to action next weekend for a Thursday and Friday weekend series against Concordia University. Game one will be on Thursday April 13^th at 7:00 p.m. On Friday, ETBU and CTX will play a double header beginning at 1:00 p.m. The games are moved up one day in advance from a normal weekend series due to Easter Weekend.