IRVING, Texas - The Howard Payne University baseball team concluded its three-game series vs. the University of Dallas on Sunday afternoon with a 13-10 victory.

Howard Payne used an eight-run fifth inning and leaned on the depth of its bullpen down the stretch to pick up the 13-10 win and close out the three-game series with a 2-1 advantage.

Junior outfielder, Benjamin Lewis went 4-5 from the plate with an HPU career-high three doubles and five RBI while also scoring two runs and Cliff Lunceford finished 3-5 to help lead the Jacket offense.

Brett Quackenbush added a double on 2-3 hitting with one RBI and two runs scored and Howard Payne collected a total of 15 hits and 10 RBI to pick up the series-deciding victory.

The Crusaders got on the board first when a passed ball put a runner in scoring position. After a two-out RBI single to right field, the Jackets picked off the runner at third base to end the inning down, 1-0.

Both sides went scoreless over the next two innings until the Howard Payne offense went recorded four runs and four hits in the third inning to pull ahead and take a 4-3 lead.

Joshua Gerig led off the inning with a single to center field and ended up coming around to score when Cliff Lunceford reached second on a hard hit ball that resulted in a throwing error. 

Benjamin Lewis followed with a double to centerfield to bring Lunceford home and David Groves would end the inning with a RBI up the middle to give the Jackets a 4-1 lead.

The Crusaders matched Howard Payne with a two-run bottom of the inning and went on to score four more runs in the fourth inning to build a 7-4 lead. 

Benjamin Lewis hit another RBI double to left field, that would bring in Brett Quackenbush who stole second after being hit by a pitch to start the fifth inning. 

After David Groves took a walk, the University of Dallas would be forced to make a pitching change. But Michael Nowak kept the pressure on the Crusaders' pitching staff by singling up the middle to score David Groves and Benjamin Lewis and even the score back up at 7-7.

The Howard Payne offense wasn't finished with the inning as Bailey Smith moved Michael Nowak to third base with a single through the left side.  Joshua Gerig followed with a single to right field to bring in Nowak to give the Jackets an 8-7 lead.

Howard Payne loaded the bases with a one-out single from Cliff Lunceford and Noah Payne would bring in one more run after a dropped fly ball to center field to give the Jackets a 10-7 lead. 

The Crusaders then elected to intentionally walk Brett Quackenbush and load the bases back up for Benjamin Lewis. Lewis doubled down the right field line to score Payne and Lunceford and make it 12-7, HPU.

The University of Dallas would switch pitchers for the second time in the fifth inning as the Jackets had scored all eight of their fifth-inning runs with one or less out. 

The Crusaders' pitching staff was able to force a groundout and end the inning. But not before Howard Payne scored eight runs on six hits and took a 12-7 lead into the game's final four innings.

Both sides went scoreless in the sixth before the University of Dallas scored three unanswered runs in the seventh and eighth to pull within two runs of the lead, 12-10.

But Howard Payne would receive some insurance in the form of a Benjamin Lewis single to right field that brought Cliff Lunceford around to score and give the Jackets a 13-10 lead.

Howard Payne pitcher Zach Moseley would settle down and strike one batter out while helping force two groundouts to claim the 13-10 victory.

Next up for the Jackets is another road contest. This time the team heads to Abilene for the first set of three game series slated to begin at 7:00 PM on March 17th.

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