BROWNWOOD, Texas - The Howard Payne University softball team picked up two one point conference victories 3-2 and 2-1 over the University of the Ozarks Thursday afternoon.

Howard Payne out hit Ozarks 18-7 on the day and Lady Jacket Audrey Simpson picked up both victories in the circle for HPU.

Game One
The Lady Jackets struggled to score runs despite out hitting Ozarks 9-5. HPU would strand 15 runners on base in the game.

With Ozarks leading 2-0 lead after three at bats, the Lady Jackets responded in the bottom of the third scoring on an Emily Martinez double to right center. Then in the fifth, HPU took a 3-2 lead on an error by the catcher and Aurora Luera stealing home.

Luera finished 3-for-4 at the plate and Emily Martinez and Haley Slater each were 2-for-3 in the game. Audrey Simpson picked up the win in relief throwing 2.1 innings, allowing no runs and no hits. Tia Campus allowed two runs on three hits in the start and Gabrielle Roque also saw 2.1 innings in relief striking out two.

Game Two
Again the Lady Jackets struggled slightly to bring home runners stranding 11 on base, but won the battle 9-2 in the game.

The HPU pitching trio of Tia Campos, Gabrielle Roque and Audrey Simpson were able to hold Ozarks to just two hits in the game each throwing 2.1 innings. Simpson picked up the victory again in relief.

With Ozarks leading 1-0 after the first inning, the Lady Jackets used an RBi double by Tonya Thompson in the 4th and a Regan Noriega RBI single in the 5th to claim the 2-1 victory.

Luera, Slater and Noriega each finished with two hits for the Lady Jackets.

Howard Payne is now 8-12 overall and 5-9 in American Southwest Conference play. Ozarks stands at 6-15 overall and 5-12 in league action. The two teams will finish their series on Friday with a single game starting at 1:00 pm.