Richardson, Texas - The Howard Payne Baseball Club dropped the series opener 8-5 against the Comets of the University of Texas at Dallas on Friday afternoon.
Five unearned runs in the 8th inning led to the demise of the Jackets in this contest.
The Comets struck for one run in the 1st inning and then two more in the 3rd to go up 3-0 early on.
Howard Payne started to fight back after scoring two in the 6th, one of those thanks to an RBI single by Seth Stephens that brought home Jonathan McKay. The Jackets then tied it up in the 7th on a McKay singled that brought home Carson Wert.
The Comets offense then came alive after an HPU error as they broke open the game and went up 8-3. The Jackets brought the score a bit closer in the 9th scoring two, but the game would end in a 8-5 deficit.
Jonathan McKay led the offense with three hits and four Jacket batters had one RBI.
Xavier Haines got the start and lasted 7 innings while giving up eight hits and three runs, two earned, while striking out one. Bryant Chamber acquired the loss, his first of the year, after tossing .2 of an inning and giving up four hits and five runs. JT Howard also saw some work this afternoon.
The Jackets drop to 7-8, 4-3 in ASC play, and will prepare to battle the Comets again tomorrow in a double header starting at Noon. You can find links to live stats and video at HPUSports.com.
