The Howard Payne University baseball team won 2-1 and 4-0 during a neutral site, non-conference doubleheader vs. Austin College on the campus of Fort Worth All Saints' Episcopal School on Tuesday evening.
The Jackets did their scoring damage early in the night, scoring one run in the first inning of game one after loading the bases. The 'Roos responded with a one-run inning of their own in the top of the second and both teams would go scoreless for the next six innings.
The game entered into an eighth inning and after Jackets reliever,
Chad Anders got himself out of a situation with two runners on base, Howard Payne would once again get their bats going to close out the game in dramatic fashion.
Cliff Lunceford doubled down the right field line and was standing on second when
Brett Quackenbush stepped up to the plate. Quackenbush blasted a ball to deep right field and brought in Lunceford for the 2-1 win in extra innings.
Brett Quackenbush finished the game with two doubles on 2-3 hitting and the game-winning RBI.
Kyle Ramon turned in a fine pitching performance, going five innings and striking out three batters.
Joshua Gerig was 2-4 from the plate with a run scored and Lunceford added two hits and a run on 2-3 hitting.
Chad Anders received the win after coming into the game as relief in the sixth inning and surrendering just one hit over 2.1 innings on the mound. Anders faced eight batters and struck out one while giving up just one walk.
The second game of the doubleheader started out with
Chandler Clark on the mound for the Jackets and he would go on to throw a great game. Clark pitched four scoreless innings and struck out six batters while giving up just one hit and two walks over 15 at-bats.
Both sides were matched with quality pitching until the Howard Payne offense started rallying in the fifth inning to pull away with a 3-0 lead.
Zach Moseley and
Nathan Weyrauch would perform well in relief and the Jackets would hold on to win the game 4-0, sweeping the doubleheader.
After four scoreless innings of baseball,
Ian Tyra and
Noah Payne each led off the fifth inning with singles and
Cliff Lunceford laid down a bunt and advanced to second on a bad throw. Tyra and Payne would also come around to score and after a
Blake Null RBI single to left field, the Jackets went up 3-0.
Nathan Weyrauch came in as a relief to start the fifth inning and went on to hold the 'Roos bats silent for the next inning. The Jackets would go on to use the services of three other pitchers with
Zach Moseley closing out the game in the seventh.
Howard Payne would score one more run when
Jay Holland stepped up to the plate and drove in a run with a hard hit bases loaded fielders choice to shortstop. The Jackets went up 4-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning.
Moseley settled in and struck out one batter and helped force a popup to end the game and help seal the 4-0 victory. Howard Payne concludes the non-conference doubleheader vs. Austin College with a 2-0 sweep.
Noah Payne finished 2-3 from the plate with one run scored and a walk and
Jay Holland went 2-4 with a double and a RBI to help spark the Jacket bats.
Cliff Lunceford added one RBI and a run scored in the win.
Howard Payne finished the game hitting nearly .300 from the plate as a team and the pitching staff held Austin College to just three hits.
The Jackets now advance to 6-6 on the season and will next face the University of Dallas for a doubleheader on March 4th beginning at 12:00 PM. Live Stats and Video can be found on HPUSports.com and follow along on Twitter @HPUHardball and on Instagram @HPUSports for in-game updates, interactive content and more.
