Baseball wrapped up its opening series with Howard Payne this Saturday afternoon. After a doubleheader, the Celts dropped the opening game 11-1, and won the second game 9-3, to secure the 2-1 opening series victory. 

Game 1: UST 1 HPU 11 (7 Innings)

The Celts struggled offensively throughout the course of the game, generating just one run in seven innings of play. In the first inning the Yellowjackets were first to strike with one run, then tacked on another in the second. After a scoreless third, Howard Payne added nine runs in the fourth powered by a grand slam and four Celt errors to extend their lead 11-0. When it looked like St. Thomas would get shutout offensively, AJ Gonzalez answered the call with an RBI single to score Brandon Madden. From there, the Yellowjacket defense tightened and prevent St. Thomas from scoring again, securing the 11-1 victory.

On the mound for St. Thomas was Landon Murray in his season debut. Murray went three innings allowing five hits and notching five strikeouts. Of the three St. Thomas relief pitchers, Dominick Garza went scoreless in two innings to close the game. 

Game 2: UST 9 HPU 3 (9 Innings)

It was the Celts to score first in the game as a costly Howard Payne error brought home Leo Galvan. The lead was short-lived however as the Yellowjackets immediately tied the score 1-1. However, St. Thomas responded with three hits and three runs in the third as Brandon Madden had a huge single up the middle to drive home Erik Garza and Jeffrey Williams. From there, the Celts only added to their score. Capped off by a Jason Brown 2 RBI single in the sixth, St. Thomas jumped out to a lead as large as eight, 9-1. Howard Payne tried to claw their way back into the game by going yard and taking advantage of a passed ball, but Luke Sebesta came in relief of starting pitcher Kadin Munson to prevent that from happening. 

On the mound, freshman Kadin Munson made his debut and threw 4.1 innings, limiting the Yellowjackets to four hits, three runs, and striking out six batters. Luke Sebesta came in relief and tossed the remaining 4.2 innings, going scoreless with three strikeouts.  

Up next, St. Thomas hits the road for mid-week single series with Temple College. Follow UST athletics for all scores and updates.