Lady Jackets take two from SAGU, 1-0 and 7-3

February 23, 2021 at 5:42 pm Derrick Stuckly

Aurora Luera recorded four of HPU’s 15 hits in Tuesday’s Game 2 win over Southwestern Assemblies of God. [Photo by Derrick Stuckly]

The Howard Payne Lady Jackets improved to 3-1 on the young season and knocked Southwestern Assemblies of God from the ranks of the unbeaten with a pair of softball victories, 1-0 and 7-3, Tuesday afternoon at Lady Jacket Park.

In the opener of the doubleheader against SAGU (4-2), HPU pitcher Bree Cason tossed a complete-game shutout, allowing four hits with four strikeouts and one walk.

HPU scored the only run in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Deandra Longoria led off with a walk and Samantha Euresti, who came on to courtesy run, moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt. Alyssa Corpus then singled to put runners on the corners. With two outs, Brianna Lopez drew a free pass to load then bases then Zaleigh Perez also walked to plate Euresti.

The Lady Jackets finished with seven hits – two each by Lopez and one apiece from Corpus, Longoria, Perez, Alexis Sullivan and Aurora Luera.

In the second game, the Lady Jackets scored all the runs they needed in the fourth inning, erupting for four.

Kayla Hill led off with a triple and scored on an RBI single by Corpus. With one out, Madison Love singled home Corpus then Perez followed with a base hit. With two down, Luera singled through the left side which set the stage for Sullivan’s two-RBI single.

With HPU’s lead trimmed to 4-2, the Lady Jackets added a fifth run in the fifth inning as Corpus led off with a double and scored on Love’s RBI single.

Howard Payne tacked on two more insurance runs in the sixth as Luera led off with a triple and scored on Longoria’s RBI sacrifice fly, while Corpus’ RBI single later brought home Sullivan, who walked.

The Lady Jackets finished with 15 hits – four by Luera, three each by Corpus and Love, two by Hill and one each by Sullivan, Longoria and Lopez. Sullivan, Corpus and Love recorded two RBIs apiece, while Longoria drove in one.

Tia Campos notched the win in the circle, yielding three earned runs on eight hits with eight strikeouts and one walk.

Howard Payne will be back in action at 2 p.m. Friday at UT-Dallas in the first two of three weekend games. The finale is set for noon Saturday.