ABILENE, Texas - Needing one win to take another conference series, the East Texas Baptist University baseball team managed to pick up a split against the Hardin-Simmons University Cowboys. With the split, ETBU is 12-8 overall and 5-4 in the American Southwest Conference.

ETBU fell in game one 5-4 as Landen Barns would lead with two hits while he and Casey Combs homered in the game. Call Florence took the loss with one inning allowing two runs on four hits with a strikeout.

The Tigers recovered to take the series with a 4-2 win in the second game. Combs once again had a home run to go with two hits and two RBI. Alan Underwood (four strikeouts) won his second game with six innings allowing one run on five hits while Chad Boudreaux earned a three-inning save with three strikeouts.

Gm 1 - HSU 5, ETBU 4
The Cowboys would get their first two runs in the bottom of the first inning for an early 2-0 lead. ETBU struggled to come up with chances through the first four innings. But in the fifth, they caught an opportunity with the first two runners on base. Spigener then put down a suicide squeeze to bring ETBU within one. Next up, Combs would homer to left field to bring ETBU up 3-2.

HSU would knot the game at three in the bottom half of the fifth on a bases loaded walk. But Arellano and Combs teamed up to retire a runner heading home at the plate. Barns would put ETBU up with a solo homer in the top half of the sixth only for HSU to score two runs in the bottom half. ETBU managed to get the tying run on third in the seventh. But a line out to first halted any comeback chances.

Gm 2 - ETBU 4, HSU 2
HSU would get the early run on an RBI double to left center. But the Tigers answered back with two-out RBI hits from Seth Mikeska and Barns to put ETBU up 2-1 in the third. Underwood would work through trouble in the third after back-to-back two-out singles with the strikeout.

Dylan Sumpter would make a few defensive plays starting with a double play to end HSU's fourth inning. In the fifth inning, HSU would have a single with a runner on base. But as the runner attempted to reach third on the play, Sumpter threw him out preserving the one-run lead for ETBU. Still up 2-1 in the seventh, ETBU managed to grab insurance runs thanks to a two-run blast by Combs making it 4-1.

Boudreaux came in and worked a scoreless seventh. But after conceding a run in the eighth, he stranded the bases loaded as ETBU led 4-2. Boudreaux would then finish the ninth inning by retiring the tying run and the Tigers hung on to the 4-2 win.

ETBU will take on Hendrix College in Marshall for a midweek two-game series. Tuesday night will be at 7:00 PM while Wednesday will have a 1:00 PM start.