HPU Sports Information

Houston, Texas - The Howard Payne Baseball Club kicked off their 2020 campaign with a Friday doubleheader sweep of University of St. Thomas 12-5 and 12-2 in Houston. 

Game One

The Jackets took down the Celts after an offensive explosion of 12 runs. 

The scoring started off with a Rylee McGee single that brought home Carson Wert and Joey Villarreal. David Paleo added to the lead with a sac fly that scored Nolyn Box and then a Jared Pollock single plated McGee to put the Jackets up 4-0 in the 1st inning. 

The Celts battled back within 4-3 after scoring two in the 2nd and one in the 3rd. Howard Payne then answered with an 8 run 5th inning to get up 12-3. David Paleo poked an RBI single to score McGee and Box, and then Sam Bosher hit an RBI double in the gap to plate Jonathan McKay. Cade Varrichio continued the scoring when he ripped a triple to right center bringing home Bosher and Pollock. Villarreal singled home Varrichio and Box singled singled home Wert to round out the scoring.

The Celts put up two runs in the 5th, but the score would stand at 12-5 for the contest.

Xavier Haines got the nod in game one and lasted 4.1 innings to grab the win. Haines gave up 6 hits and only 2 earned runs, 3 total. Seth Brody, Landin Blass and Koby Hasty all saw action as well.

Game Two

Game two was much of the same story as the first as the offense matched with 12 runs. 

After a scoreless 1st, the Jackets took a 1-0 lead and then added to that with Cade Varrichio placing a single over the infield to scored Sam Bosher. 

St. Thomas answered with an RBI single bringing the score to 2-1. Jonathan McKay added to the lead with an RBI double in the 3rd that scored Pollock and then McKay scored later on an error to make it 4-1.

After the Celts made the score 4-2 on a sacrifice fly, they would be held scoreless the rest of the game. Nolyn Box doubled down the left field line in the 4th to score two and then Pollock doubled down that same line in the 4th to plate Box making the score 7-2. In the 6th, McKay doubled to right center to score Box and Pollock later scored on a ground out to put the Jackets ahead 9-2. The scoring ended in the 7th with a Derek Gifford double that scored Keldon Crawford and Collin Davis, then a Nolyn Box single that plated Gifford.

Bryant Chambers got his first collegiate start of his freshman season as he grabbed the win with 5 innings of work. He gave up 2 runs, both earned, while striking out 5. Ethan Cerna and JT Howard both saw an inning of work as well. 

The Jackets are now 2-0 and will be back on the field again tomorrow against St. Thomas at 2:00 noon and 3:00 in another double header show down. You can find links to live stats at HPUSports.com.