HPU claims ASC baseball series over McMurry, winning two of three

February 24, 2024 at 9:53 pm Updated: February 26th, 2024 at 6:57 am Derrick Stuckly

Sports

The Howard Payne Yellow Jackets won two of three games at McMurry over the weekend in American Southwest Conference baseball action. HPU won the opened 10-8 Friday night and the finale, 19-18 in 15 innings. McMurry picked up the middle game by a 3-2 count.

In Friday’s game, the Yellow Jackets broke through after an 8-8 tie in the seventh inning.

Bryant Chambers (1-0) got the win out of the bullpen for Howard Payne (4-3, 1-0). The right-hander went 2.1 shutout innings, giving up two hits, one walk and striking out one. Anthony Cook also pitched well, going one shutout inning without allowing a hit, walking one and striking out two.

At the plate, the Yellow Jackets were led by Tanner Benson, who went 2-for-4 on the day with a double, a home run, a walk and four RBI. Jackson Earle furnished a noteworthy day at the dish as well, going 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBI. William Burford also contributed for Howard Payne, putting together two hits in four trips to the plate while adding a double and an RBI.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Yellow Jackets were trailing 4-0 in the third inning when they first put runs on the board. Howard Payne’s offense started clicking and put up six runs, including a grand slam off the bat of Tanner Benson.

The War Hawks then rallied to score four runs and take an 8-6 lead before the Yellow Jackets got back on the board in the seventh. Howard Payne scored twice on Jackson Earle’s two-run homer, which evened the score at 8-8.

That 8-8 tie turned into a 9-8 Howard Payne lead in the eighth.

Howard Payne held the War Hawks scoreless before their offense got back to their scoring ways the next inning. The Yellow Jackets scored once on an RBI single off the bat of JP Zuniga-Rodriguez, bringing the score to 10-8 in favor of Howard Payne. The score remained 10-8 for the rest of the game, as the Yellow Jackets held on for the win.

GAME 1 NOTES
» Earle picked up three hits in the game for Howard Payne.
» The Yellow Jackets power output was led by Benson, who compiled two extra base hits in the ballgame.
» Benson drove in four runs for Howard Payne.
» Howard Payne’s highest scoring inning was the third, when it pushed six runs across.
» Four Yellow Jackets had multiple hits in the ballgame.
» Howard Payne went 6-for-15 (.400) with runners in scoring position.
» Howard Payne pitchers faced 49 McMurry hitters in the game, allowing 13 ground balls and five fly balls while striking out five.
» The Yellow Jackets drew five walks from McMurry pitching.
» Benson led the Yellow Jackets at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and four RBI.
» McMurry was led offensively by C. Turner, who went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI.

GAME 2 | McMurry 3, Howard Payne 2
McMurry’s one-run sixth proved to be the difference in the ballgame, as the Howard Payne Yellow Jackets lost a heartbreaker to the War Hawks by the score of 3-2 on Saturday.

Bryson Adare (0-1) came out of the bullpen for Howard Payne and took the loss. The right-hander went one inning, giving up one run without giving up a hit. Brayden Ferrie was a bright spot for the Yellow Jackets, starting the ballgame and throwing five innings, giving up two runs, all earned, on six hits, with two walks and three strikeouts.

Tanner Benson led the way offensively for the Yellow Jackets, going 2-for-4 in the ballgame with two RBI. Eli McNair put together a noteworthy performance at the plate as well, going 1-for-3 with a double. JP Zuniga-Rodriguez also helped out, going 2-for-3 for Howard Payne.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Yellow Jackets were trailing 2-0 in the fifth inning when they first put runs on the board. Benson drove in two runs for Howard Payne with a single, that scored Seth Bowman and Zuniga-Rodriguez. McMurry then scored one time over the remaining two innings to break the tie and grab the 3-2 win.

GAME NOTES
» Howard Payne’s highest scoring inning was the fifth, when it pushed two runs across.
» Howard Payne pitchers faced 28 McMurry hitters in the game, allowing five ground balls and nine fly balls while striking out three.
» Benson led the Yellow Jackets at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two RBI.
» McMurry was led offensively by K. Carpenter, who went 1-for-3 with a triple.
» B. Morrill led the War Hawks pitching staff, throwing 2.1 scoreless innings.

GAME 3 | Howard Payne 19, McMurry 18
The Howard Payne Yellow Jackets responded from tied 10-10 in the eighth inning to win in breathtaking fashion, rallying to earn a 19-18 victory in the 15th inning over the McMurry War Hawks in game two.

Grant Beaver (1-0) got the win out of the bullpen for Howard Payne. The right-hander went 1.2 innings, giving up two runs, both of them earned, without giving up a hit, allowing two walks and striking out one. Bryson Adare also pitched well, going two innings, surrendering three runs, zero earned, on one hit, walking none and striking out two.

Grant Pfaff led the way offensively for the Yellow Jackets, going 3-for-8 in the ballgame with a home run and four RBI. William Burford furnished a noteworthy day at the plate as well, going 3-for-8 with a home run, a walk and three RBI. Landon Prestage also chipped in, going 2-for-5 for Howard Payne with a home run and four RBI.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Yellow Jackets scored in six different innings on the way to victory. After holding the lead five different times earlier in the ballgame, Howard Payne broke a 15-15 tie and took the lead for good at 16-15 in the fifteenth inning The Yellow Jackets hit two home runs in the inning on the way to scoring their five runs.

GAME NOTES
» Howard Payne got three-hit games from three different hitters.
» The Yellow Jackets power output was led by Derek Gifford, who compiled two extra base hits in the ballgame.
» Pfaff and Prestage drove in four runs for Howard Payne.
» Every Howard Payne starter reached base safely in the win.
» Howard Payne’s highest scoring inning was the second, when it pushed five runs across.
» Howard Payne took a 2-2 lead in the top half of the first and didn’t surrender that lead for the remainder of the game.
» Eight Yellow Jackets had multiple hits in the ballgame.
» Howard Payne hitters hit three dingers in the ballgame.
» The Yellow Jackets had a total of 21 hits.
» The Yellow Jackets out-hit the War Hawks at a 21-16 clip.
» Gifford stole two bases in Saturday’s game.
» Howard Payne went 10-for-29 (.345) with runners in scoring position.
» The Yellow Jackets got two hits in four at-bats with the bases loaded.
» Howard Payne pitchers faced 79 McMurry hitters in the game, allowing 15 ground balls and 17 fly balls while striking out 11.
» The Yellow Jackets drew seven walks from McMurry pitching.
» Pfaff led the Yellow Jackets at the plate, going 3-for-8 with a home run and four RBI.
» McMurry was led offensively by C. Turner, who went 2-for-8 with two doubles and five RBI.
» W. Cooper led the War Hawks pitching staff, throwing 2.2 scoreless innings.

The Yellow Jackets will be back in action next weekend as they host Mary Hardin-Baylor in a three-game series across Friday and Saturday. First pitch on Friday is set for 1:00 PM with games on Saturday at 12:00 and 3:00 PM.