ABILENE – Facing a pair of Class 6A opponents to start the Abilene baseball tournament Thursday, the Brownwood Lions twice came up on the short end of the final tally.

The Lions began tournament play Thursday with an 11-2 loss to Class 6A San Angelo Central.

After scoring both their runs in the top of the first inning, the Lions gave up five in the bottom of the first, one in the third, two in the fourth, and the final three runs in the fifth inning.

Brownwood notched nine hits – two each by Robbie Robinson, Shaxton Simpson, Harrison Sweaney and Garrett Wilkerson, while Kasyn Wooten also chipped in a single.

In the first inning for the Lions, Robinson singled to right field and Simpson followed with a base hit back up the middle in front of Sweaney’s two-RBI single to center field, which accounted for all the Brownwood scoring.

On the mound, Simpson and Rhett Lowe combined to yield seven earned runs on 10 hits with four strikeouts and four walks. The Brownwood defense committed two errors behind them.

Brownwood ended the night with a 10-7 setback at the hands of Copperas Cove.

The Lions grabbed a 4-0 lead in the top of the second inning, only to witness Cove rally with seven runs in the bottom half. Facing a 9-4 deficit heading into the fourth inning, Brownwood tacked on three more runs to trim the deficit to two, but Cove added a final insurance run in the bottom of the fifth.

Brownwood drew five walks and finished with seven hits – two by Robinson and one each by Sweaney, Wilkerson, Calder Damron, Carter Massey and Cannon Calvert. Sweaney recorded a team-best three RBIs with Calvert and Wilkerson each adding one.

In the top of the second for the Lions, Massey and Damron singled in succession to start the inning, and Robinson added a one-out base hit to fill the sacks. With two outs in the frame, Sweaney tripled to center field to drive in all three base runners for a 3-0 lead. Calvert followed with an RBI single for the fourth Lion run.

The three-spot in the fourth inning for the Lions featured a Robinson lead-off single followed by a walk to Simpson. With one out, Calvert walked to load the bases, but Robinson then scored the fifth Brownwood run on a wild pitch. Wilkerson later delivered an RBI ground that plated Simpson with the sixth run, and Evan Escobar reached on the only Cove miscue of the game that allowed Calvert to cross the plate and make the score 9-7.

On the mound, Sweaney pitched all 4.2 innings before the time limit halted the game, allowing 10 runs – none earned as the Brownwood defense was credited with four errors – with eight walks and six strikeouts.

The Lions (3-8) resume tournament action at 12:30 p.m. Friday at Abilene Cooper before meeting Arlington Sam Houston at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Abilene High.