Howard Payne's postseason run opened Thursday night with flashes of fight, but a late surge from East Texas Baptist proved to be the difference as the Yellow Jackets fell 12-4 in the first round of the ASC Baseball Championship in Marshall.
After East Texas Baptist jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opening inning, Howard Payne settled in behind starting pitcher Luke Watkins, who worked through early traffic and kept the deficit within reach across four innings, striking out four.
The Yellow Jackets began to chip away in the fourth inning when Nader Gulamhusein sparked the frame with a single, later coming around to score on a sacrifice fly from Joshua Lile to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Momentum started to build again in the seventh inning, and for a moment, it felt like the game tilted on its axis. Joshua Lile opened the inning with a base hit, and Huston Cornish followed with a double to put two runners in scoring position. Braden Franks drove in a run to make it 4-2, setting the stage for the biggest swing of the night. Moments later, pinch hitter Hunter Pope delivered a towering two-run home run to left field, tying the game at 4-4 and injecting life into the Yellow Jackets' dugout.
Earlier in the game, Cornish and Franks had already been steady at the plate with multiple hits, while Gulamhusein set the tone from the leadoff spot with a pair of knocks.
However, the tie was short-lived as East Texas Baptist answered in the bottom half of the seventh and continued to add on in the eighth, pulling away late despite the Yellow Jackets' push.
Head Coach Stephen Lynn noted the resilience shown in key moments despite the final score.
"We competed and showed some toughness there in the middle innings," said Lynn. "That seventh inning is the kind of baseball we know we're capable of playing. We just have to find a way to sustain that pressure and limit the big innings on the other side."
Howard Payne will look to bounce back as today's scheduled game has been moved to Saturday due to weather, with the Yellow Jackets set to face Hardin-Simmons at 11 a.m. in an elimination matchup.
