BROWNWOOD, Texas – The East Texas Baptist University baseball team used two six-run innings to trounce Howard Payne University in the series opening game, 16-8. ETBU scored six runs in the fifth and ninth innings for 12 of their 16 runs. ETBU moves to 24-11 overall this season, and to 15-4 in American Southwest Conference while HPU drops to 18-15 and 10-9 in the ASC.

Rader led the way with three hits, followed by Conner Combs, Casey Combs, and Compton with two hits each. Aldredge, Gartner, Winter, and Dylan Sumpter each had one hit in the contest. Gartner and Casey Combs led the team with three RBI each. Rader and Conner Combs had two RBI each, followed by Compton, Aldredge, Sumrall, Bateman, and Winter with one RBI each.  

Kyle Loson picked up his fifth win of the season to move to 5-1, allowing five runs (two earned) on six hits in 5.0 innings. Logan Sprinkle pitched 3.0 scoreless innings in relief, allowing only one hit and struck out four batters for his fourth save of the year.

David Groves brought home the first run of the game on a groundout, scoring Cliff Lunceford, giving the Yellow Jackets an early 1-0 lead. Zach Gartner continued his hot hitting with a two-run homerun, playing Zach Compton, to put ETBU out in front 2-1 in the top of the second inning. HPU tacked on four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, two off of RBI singles and two off a key error with two outs, giving them a 5-2 lead after four frames. After Matthew Parks walked the bases loaded in the top of the fifth, Compton walked as well to bring in Landen Barns, cutting the HPU lead to 5-3. Parks would walk in another ETBU run, cutting the lead down less to 5-4. Casey Combs tripled to clear the bases, giving ETBU a 7-5 lead. Kam Sumrall hit a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 8-5.

In the bottom of the sixth, Lunceford doubled home a run to make the score 8-6. Conner Combs led off the top of the 7th inning with a solo homerun, giving ETBU lead 9-6. HPU would answer with two runs in the bottom of the seventh to bring the score within one run, 9-8. Jaxon Rader doubled home Brice Winter in the top of the eighth to give ETBU some insurance. In the ninth inning, Jeremy Bateman brought home a run with a bases loaded hit by pitch, to tack on another insurance run 11-8. Winter used a sacrifice fly to extend the Tiger lead to 12-8. Rader singled home Bateman to extend the lead to 13-8. Mason Aldredge hit a sacrifice fly, Barns scored on an errant throw, and Conner Combs singled home Rader to stretch the lead to 16-8.

Benjamin Lewis had three hits, and Michael Nowak had two hits for HPU. Lunceford led the Yellow Jacket offense with three RBI, and Nowak had two RBI. Parks was tagged with the loss, allowing seven runs on five hits and five walks in 4.1 innings pitched.

ETBU and HPU will resume their series with a double header beginning at 12:00 p.m. in Brownwood, Texas.