The Howard Payne University baseball team sweeps Huston-Tillotson University in a double header Tuesday afternoon, 6-3 and 7-6, to end their nine game losing skid.
The Yellow Jackets had to come from behind in both games in order to win. In the first game, HPU found themselves down 3-2 in the sixth inning, but got four runs late to get the win.
The scoring started in the first inning when Huston-Tillotson pitcher, Jose Lopez, balked scoring Jordan Hammontree from third base. In the second, it was a double to center field from Dustin Climer scoring Jake Dean, making the score 2-0 after two innings.
HTU answered back scoring three runs in the forth and fifth innings. It was a quiet fifth from the Jackets, finding themselves down 3-2. Then in the top of the sixth, just when the Rams of HTU looked as if they were going to put more runs on the board, HPU’s Climer, got the momentum back for the Jackets. In the play the ball was hit right up the middle and bounced off second base right into, shortstop, Climer’s hand. Making the heads up play, he simply stepped on second for the force out and threw out the runner at first for the double play and to end HTU’s threat.
From that point it was all Jackets. In the bottom of the sixth, they put together four runs on four hits. The first run came on a sac fly from Will Garlick scoring, pinch runner, Lucas Creed. The next three batters to come up, Climer, Kyle Lloyd, and Jordan Hammontree, would get RBI hits, scoring three more runs and making the score 6-3.
HTU had no answer for the big inning and went scoreless in the top of the seventh giving the win to HPU, 6-3.
Climer went 3-3 in the game scoring one run and knocking in two RBIs. Ramirez for HTU went 2-2 with a RBI.
Rowdy Allen got the win on the mound for the Jackets, going one inning. Lopez picked up the loss for HTU, striking out four batters and allowing six earned runs on eight hits.
In the second game, the Jackets had to break two ties and comeback twice before getting the win.
Things started when HTU got a run in the first off a single to right field. HPU came back in the bottom of the second to grab one run themselves off of a Nick Loving sac fly, scoring Carlton Brown.
The HTU Rams would take the lead back 2-1 in the third, but from that point HPU would score two runs in the third, forth and fifth, and continue to put the pressure on the Rams to make things happen.
In the fifth, HTU hit a two run home run to left center and tied the game at five. That would be the Rams last ditch effort though as the Yellow Jackets got two runs on three hits in the bottom of the fifth inning to take the game to 7-5. HTU would tack on one more run in the seventh, but would come up short, making the final score, 7-6 for the Jackets.
Kyle Lloyd had a big game going 3-4 with a double, two stolen bases, two RBIs, and two runs scored. Taylor Zambreski went 2-3, with two RBIs, and a run scored.
Climer received the win from the mound with five strikeouts, allowing only two hits and one earned run in 2.2 innings of work. Charles Morton got the loss for the Rams, with two earned runs in 2.1 innings.
HPU goes to 17-20 overall on the year, while Huston-Tillotson drops to 10-26.
The Yellow Jackets wrap up their season with a three-game weekend series against Schreiner University in Kerrville. The games start with a single game on April 23, at 2 p.m. Then on Apr p.m. Then on April 24, its a double header starting at 1 p.m April 24, it’s a double header starting at 1 p.m.
