Playing in their eighth and ninth one-run games on Saturday, the LeTourneau University baseball team dropped a 2-1 and 1-0 doubleheader to host Howard Payne University on Saturday in Brownwood.
LeTourneau (19-9, 13-8 ASC) was held to just two hits in each game as both games were dominated by the pitchers. In game one, Bryce Griffin and Chris Bertram each had a hit and in the nightcap, Dillon Yates and Kyle Jacobs each had a hit.
Howard Payne (13-13, 10-11 ASC) starting pitchers – Jacob Spivey in game one and Corey Howie in game two kept LeTourneau in check at the plate.
In game one, HPU scored first on a RBI single by Dustin DeJohn in the third inning. LeTourneau came back to tie it in the fifth when Chris Bertram tripled to start the inning. He came around to score on a RBI ground out by catcher Chuck Daugherty.
In extra innings – the game was scheduled for seven innings – HPU started its half of the eighth when Colton Brown recorded his second ground-rule double of the game. He moved to third on a DeJohn single; then, LeTourneau elected to intentionally walk the next batter to load the bases for Matthew Daniel. The HPU catcher answered the challenge with a single through the left side for the game-winning run.
The loss for LeTourneau went to Jon Riley, who lost for the first time on the season to fall to 0-1. For Howard Payne, Ethan Farrel pitched a scoreless eighth for the win.