Coach John Sparks said the Bluejays played well on both offense and defense, partly as a result of mild winter weather that allowed the squad to practice outdoors prior to their southern swing.

"I thought we played well defensively for the most part and we made the routine plays," Sparks said. "We talked a lot about not giving away runs this year, both on the mound and defensively and I think we were successful in both areas over the weekend.

"We hit the ball pretty well and we were able to put some people away which was another thing we talked about so overall offensively, I was pleased as well."

The first stop on the tour took was Hawkins, where they played a Thursday doubleheader with the Jarvis Christian Bulldogs.

Tabor took a 9-6 come-from-behind win in the opener and used the strong arm of Tyler McKim to win the nite cap 11-0.

The Bluejays cranked out 11 hits in the opener but trailed 6-5 into the top of the seventh.

That's when Tanner Monhollan lined a two-run double and Chance Miles capped the rally with a two-run single.

Tyson Bauerle picked up the win, allowing six hits and four earned runs in 42/3 innings.

"I told the guys afterward that maybe that was a little bit of an exorcism for us for all the close games we lost last year," Sparks said with a smile. "I think that gave our team a lot of confidence to win a game like that to start the year and it certainly made me feel good as a coach."

The second contest was really no contest as McKim hurled five shutout innings, allowing just two hits while striking out nine.

Tabor cranked out 15 hits. Chance Miles went 3-for-5 with a 420-foot home run to left center field.

"I think (us) winning the first game took the win out of their sails," Sparks said. "Tyler really threw well, and if he can continue to throw like that, it's going to be a huge boost for us. We jumped out early and put them away and that was nice to see."

The Bluejays then traveled to Dallas to face the Fighting Tigers of Paul Quinn College.

Strong pitching and solid hitting produced another pair of wins, this time by scores of 11-4 and 6-0.

In the opener, Mike Menges picked up the win. He threw five innings, allowed only three hits, no earned runs and struck out four.

The Bluejays ripped nine hits in the game. Miles drove in four runs and Brian Kimsey who chased home three.

"We executed very well against Paul Quinn," Sparks said. "We moved guys over and it seemed like every time we had somebody on third base, we got them in.

"And Michael threw pretty well and gave us a chance to win."

In the second game, Cooper Garbe through five innings of shutout ball, allowing three hits and striking out three.

Tabor had only six hits with Nick Green picking up two and driving in a pair of runs.

"Cooper did a real nice job-that's probably the best he's pitched here, although I know it's early in the season," Sparks said. "He really hit his spots, we made our plays and he rolled a lot of ground balls.

"We struggled offensively early, but got it going in the middle against their starting pitcher and kind of rolled from there."

The road trip concluded with a stop in Fort Worth, where Tabor lost to the Texas Wesleyan Rams, 12-1, in a game shortened by the 10-run rule.

"We wish we could have had more production against Texas Wesleyan, but we saw a good pitcher," Sparks said. "He threw well against us and we just have to tip our hat."

The Bluejays managed only four hits, with Casey Hillman accounting for two of them.

Jeremy Sneed took the loss, allowing seven hits and eight earned runs in 22/3 innings.

"Our goal going into the weekend was to come out with no more than one loss-we thought if we did that, it would be a successful trip," Sparks said. "We all know we could have played better against Wesleyan and proved we could play with them, but we didn't do a good job of that."

Ignoring preseason polls that picked the Bluejays to finish in the middle of the KCAC at best, Sparks said the quick start will do nothing but boost his team's confidence.

"I told the guys that really all that matters is what I think about them and what they think about themselves," he said. "We tore up the sheet that had the preseason polls on it and threw it in the trash because what anybody else thinks really doesn't matter."

Coming- Tabor's game scheduled with Central Christian on Wednesday was moved to Tuesday afternoon. The Bluejays will host Haskell Indian Nation on Friday and Mount Marty College on Saturday, weather permitting.