RICHARDSON, Texas - The Howard Payne softball team fell in both contests, 6-5 and 9-1 vs. the #21 University of Texas at Dallas on Friday evening.
The Lady Jackets (5-23-1, 3-20 ASC) had a five inning shutout going in game one with
Tonya Thompson in the circle before the Comets used a late sixth inning rally to force extra innings and steal the 6-5 victory in eight innings.
In game two, UT-Dallas used a six run first inning to pull away with the 9-1 win in five full innings of play.
Gabrielle Roque scored an unearned run in the second inning but the Lady Jackets were held scoreless the rest of the way.
Tiffany Hinkleman finished 3-4 from the plate and
Tonya Thompson pitched five innings of shutout baseball while striking out three batters. Howard Payne scored four runs in the top of fourth after Hinkleman started the inning with a single to center field.
After
Tonya Thompson reached on a single to right field, the Lady Jackets loaded the bases and and ended up scoring four runs to end the inning.
Tayler Rushing had previously drove in the other run in the game in the third and Howard Payne took a five run lead into the bottom of the sixth,
However, UT-Dallas rallied to score four runs in the bottom of the sixth to force the game into extra innings. The Comets scored the go ahead run in the eighth inning to collect the victory.
In game two, UT-Dallas score eight quick runs to start the games first two innings and held on down the stretch to ensure the win. The Lady Jackets attempted to answer back in the bottom of the second inning, after Roque scored on a throwing error.
The Comets pitchers proved tough to overcome as they were able to hold the Howard Payne bats to five hits over the span of five innings.
Sabrina Ochoa finished 2-2 from the plate and
Tayler Rushing finished 1-2 with two stolen bases in the defeat.
The Lady Jackets will face the Comets again tomorrow at 12:00 PM and live stats, video and other links can be found on HPUSports.com. Be sure to follow along on Twitter @HPUSoftball and also on Instagram, @HPUSports for in-game updates, interactive content and more.
