The Temple College Leopards baseball team began four-game North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference series with the Vernon College Chaparrals at the Danny Scott Sports Complex.
The teams managed to split the doubleheader, as Temple got a quality start from Patrick Collopy and save from Tobin Eschief to win the opener, 5-3.
The Leopards' quick lead in the second game was erased in the second inning and Vernon outscored Temple over the final three innings, 9-3, to defeat the Leopards in eight innings, 16-8.
Jackson Todd's single to right field in the first inning scored Peanut Brazzle to give Temple a 1-0 lead.
The Leopards scored twice in the third inning. Lance Cantrell single to left field scored Ryder Rutledge and Kade Davis' liner to centerfield resulted in an RBI single score Andrew Ermis.
Rutledge's two-run double scored Kolvin Davis and Todd to extend Temple's lead to 5-0 going into the top of the sixth.
Irvin Leonard's leadoff homer in the sixth inning broke up Collopy's shutout bid. Anthony Talpa's two-run homer clipped Temple's lead to two runs, 5-3.
Eschief took over for Collopy in the seventh, and Vernon put the tying run on at second. Eschief induced a Leonard groundout to end the first game.
Rutledge had two hits and two RBI to lead Temple. Brazzle stole three bases, as the Leopards swiped six bags in the game.
Leonard went 2-of-4 and Talpa drove in two runs to lead the Chaparrals.
Collopy picked up the win, allowed three runs on six hits and struck out four in six innings. Eschief pitched an inning of relief in the save, having walked two and struck out one.
Josh Ashen took the loss, having pitched five innings, allowed five runs (four earned) on six hits, walked four and struck four. Grant McLendon pitched an inning and walked one.
Ermis gave Temple the early game two lead with a solo homer to left field in the bottom of the first.
Vernon took the lead in the top of the second when Jorge Olivera-Gutierrez singled home Joey Duran and Talpa. Olivera-Gutierrez scored on Michael Russell's single to put the Chaparrals up 3-1,
The Leopards cut their margin in half on Kolvin Davis' solo homer to left field in the bottom of the second.
The Chaparrals took the lead for good in the fourth inning. Will Dixon singled home Olivera-Gutierrez, Eric Maisonet's single scored Russell, and Cooper Thomas' double scored Maisonet and Dixon to give Vernon a 7-2 lead.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Brazzle, Sage Sanders, and Kolvin Davis drew bases-loaded walks to put the Leopards to within two runs and had the tying run at second base when it was stranded on a ground to keep the game at two runs.
Duran's two-run single in the sixth, Maisonet's two-run homer in the seventh and bases-loaded hit-by-pitch in the eighth put the Chaparrals up by seven. Leonard's grand slam wrapped the scoring Vernon as they led going to bottom of the eighth, 16-5.
Cantrell and Kade Davis sandwiched sacrifice flies around an RBI single by Ermis to cut the deficit to eight. However, the Leopards could get the game out of run-rule and lost by eight.
Maisonet and Leonard each drove in four runs, and Thomas, Duran, and Olivera-Gutierrez each drove in two.
Ermis had two hits, two runs scored, and two RBI to lead the Leopards.
Temple (12-15, 5-5 NTJCAC) and Vernon (20-10, 4-2 NTJCAC) will wrap their series with a doubleheader at Vernon at 12 pm and 2:30 pm on Saturday.