HOUSTON – The Howard Payne Yellow Jackets began their baseball season with a 9-5 loss at the University of St. Thomas Thursday afternoon.

The Yellow Jackets trailed 3-0 after one inning, gained a 4-3 edge in the top of the second, then fell behind again 8-4 in the bottom of the second. Each team mustered one additional run in the five-inning contest.

Howard Payne finished with seven hits – two each by Nolyn Box and Jonathan McKay and one apiece from Trevor Fletcher, Derek Gifford and Rylee McGee. Fletcher drove in two runs by Gifford and McGee added an RBI apiece.

On the mound, Bryant Chambers took the loss as he yielded seven earned runs on nine hits with four walks, two hit batters, and four strikeouts.

The three-game series, originally slated for Don Shepard Park this weekend, was moved up a day and south due to winter weather. Games 2 and 3 of the series will take place at noon Friday in Houston.