ABILENE, Texas – Continuing its stretch of American Southwest Conference games, the East Texas Baptist University baseball team stumbled against host Hardin-Simmons (Texas) University, 13-6, on Friday night at Hunter Field.

With its third-straight loss, ETBU goes to 12-7 overall and 3-4 in ASC games. Meanwhile, Hardin-Simmons improves to 11-6 and 5-2 within the ASC and has won its past nine games.

At the plate for ETBU, Tyler Bates went 3-for-5 with four runs batted in and also threw out a runner at home plate from the outfield in the sixth inning. Brice Winter was 2-for-2 with a pair of walks and scored twice, while Jaxon Rader also went 2-for-2 with an RBI.

ETBU starting pitcher Ernest Perez (6-1) took his first loss this season. He pitched six innings and allowed 11 hits and seven runs (all earned). He walked one, hit a batter and also struck out two.

Following a scoreless three-and-a-half innings to open the game, Hardin-Simmons plated a pair of runs in the bottom half of the fourth to move ahead by a 2-0 margin. Its advantage was erased soon after, however, as Bates hit a two-RBI single to left field in the top of the fifth inning, knotting the game up at 2-2. Hardin-Simmons reassumed its edge with a combined five runs during the fifth and sixth innings to claim a 7-2 lead through six innings.

ETBU scored twice in its turn to bat in the seventh via Bates' run-scoring infield hit and later a bases-loaded walk by Dynas Doud to draw within three runs, 7-4. Hardin-Simmons scored three runs in the bottom half to create some separation, 10-4. Mirroring the seventh inning, ETBU plated two more runs in the eighth, but Hardin-Simmons then crossed the plate another three times in bottom half to account for the game's final score, 13-6.

ETBU and Hardin-Simmons complete the three-game series with a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m.