ALPINE, Texas - The Howard Payne University baseball team concluded their four game series vs. Sul Ross State University by splitting the final day with a 5-3 victory and an 8-4 loss on Saturday evening at Kokernot Field.
The Jackets (3-4) followed up yesterday's performance at the plate by continuing their hot hitting, finishing with a total of 13 runs on 13 hits while receiving some solid play from their pitching staff to help pull themselves to an even 3-3 on the season.
After taking game one 5-3, Howard Payne looked poised to sweep the day. However, the Lobos (6-5) rallied back from a 3-1 deficit and scored six runs in the fifth inning to collect the victory and even up the four game series at 2-2.
Seth Owens turned in an impressive performance on the mound for the Jackets during game one, striking out four batters and surrendering just four hits over five full innings of play. He earned his second win of the season and
Zach Moseley picked up his first save of the season in relief.
Joshua Gerig drove in three runs with a clutch double and finished the day going 1-2 from behind the plate with a run scored and a walk. He didn't see time in game two but
Noah Payne did his best to fill in during his absence. Payne finished game two 2-3 from behind the plate with an RBI and
David Groves scored twice and took a walk to finish the day 1-2 in the batters box.
The Jackets did try and push the Lobos late, picking up one run in the sixth inning after loading the bases for
Noah Payne.
David Groves would go on to advance home on a wild pitch, but Sul Ross closed out the game and the series with one more run for good measure in the bottom of the sixth. But the Howard Payne offense was blanked in the top of the seventh to end the game.
The Jackets will now return home to play host to the University of Texas at Tyler for a three game home stand on February 24th. The first game will take place at 1:00 PM with the remaining two game happening on the ensuing Saturday. Log onto HPUSports.com for live stats, video and more and follow along on Twitter @HPUHardball and Instagram @HPUSports for in-game updates, interactive content and more.
