Clarksville, AR - The Yellow Jacket Baseball Club traveled up to Arkansas to start a conference series battling back in both games to force extra innings. Those games led to a sweep in the double header on Friday against the University of the Ozarks by scores of 5-3 and 8-6.
Game 1
Howard Payne fell down early 1-0 but tied it up in the 2nd on a Nolyn Box single that plated David Groves. Noah Payne followed shortly after with an RBI single of his own that scored Box and put the Jackets ahead.
After U of O took the lead back on a two run homerun, the Jackets tied it up in the 6th on a Jacob Rodriguez double that scored Noah Coronado to send the game into extras.
Cliff Lunceford put the game away in the 8th with a single that scored pinch runner Keldon Crawford and Noah Coronado.
Noah Payne, Nolyn Box and Jacob Rodriguez all had two hits and an RBI for the Jackets, while Cliff Lunceford led the team in RBIs with 2.
Chandler Clark got the start on the bump going 4.1 innings giving up 6 hits and 3 runs. Xavier Haines got the win tossing 2 innings giving up 2 hits and striking out 1, and Brenden Clanton got the save shutting the door in the 8th.
Game 2
After what started to look like a pitchers duel, Joshua Gerig doubled in the 3rd to score Jacob Rodriguez to put the Jackets up 1-0. U of O would end up scoring 6 that same inning to pull ahead 6-1.
You can never count these Jackets out, though. Jacob Rodriguez hit a pop fly that floated straight out of the ball park in the 4th to bring HPU withing 2. Nolyn Box would then single home David Groves and Joshua Gerig in the 5th to tie the game at 6 and send it back into extras.
After a quiet 7th, Nolyn Box led off the 8th with a single. A Cliff Lunceford ground out moved him over to second as they brought in Keldon Crawford to pinch run. Crawford advanced to 3rd on a wild pitch which proved to be pointless as Noah Payne, the Jackets' hottest hitter, blasted one out of the park to put the Jackets up 8-6.
Jacob Rodriguez led the Jackets going 2-3 with a double, homerun and 3 RBIs. Nolyn Box added a 3-4 day with a double and 2 RBIs. Noah Payne went 1-5 with that go ahead homerun in the 8th.
Bryson Lyro got the start for HPU dealing 4.2 innings and giving up 6 hits and 6 runs while striking out 2. Ben Schardt got the win tossing 1 scoreless inning and striking out 1, and Brenden Clanton got the save, his 2nd of the afternoon and 4th om the season.
Howard Payne improves to 15-8, and 11-0 in ASC play while Ozarks drops to 10-15, 5-6 in ASC play. The Jackets will be back at it tomorrow at the University of the Ozarks' place, weather permitting. They'll play the final game starting at 1:00 pm. For links to live stats and video, you can visit HPUSports.com.
