The Temple College Leopards baseball team hosted the Hill College Rebels to begin their final Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Conference series on Tuesday afternoon at the Danny Scott Sports Complex.
Temple jumped out to early leads in both games. However, Hill scored the last eight runs in game two to force a doubleheader split.
The Leopards won the opener, 7-3. The Rebels grabbed the second game, 8-2.
Temple helped Patrick Collopy's on the hill with a five-run first inning off Hill starting pitcher Landon Karrh. Kade Davis singled home Brayden Simmons, Lance Cantrell's single scored Andrew Ermis, Hunter Baros' double to left field scored Davis and Cantrell, and Kadyn Martinez's single to right field score Baros.
Collopy retired 11 of the first 12 batters before the Rebels scored on James Vanderpool's steal of home plate in the top of the fifth.
Four straight singles produced two runs for the Leopards in the bottom of the inning. Following singles by Davis and Cantrell, Baros singled home Davis and Martinez singled home Cantrell to give Temple a 7-1 lead.
Sam York doubled home Lane Walton and Nick Dunch's sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth capped the scoring for the Rebels.
Cantrell had three hits and two runs scored, Davis had two hits and two runs scored, Baros had three RBI, and Martinez added two runs batted in.
Collopy picked up the win, having pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowed three runs on three hits, struck out six, walked three, and hit a batter. Mason Gerrard pitched 1 2/3 innings and struck out two.
Karrh took the loss, having pitched 4 2/3 innings, allowed seven runs on 11 hits and struck out three. Randall Chase pitched 1 1/3 innings, struck out two, and walked two.
Temple took a 1-0 lead in the first inning of game two off Hill starting pitcher Micah Early. Davis doubled to right field to score Ryder Rutledge.
The Leopards extended their lead to 2-0 in the second when Kash Millar's sacrifice fly scored Baros.
Temple's game two starting pitcher Eric Tenery cruised along the first seven innings, despite an unearned run having scored on an error in the third and Dylan Martinez's sacrifice fly in the seventh.
The Rebels touched up the Temple bullpen in the final two innings. Jacob Santich gave Hill the lead in the top of the eighth with an RBI single and a Layden Sepulvado two-run homer. Hill added three more runs in the ninth on a two-run single by Walton and an RBI double by York.
Sepulvado and Vanderpool each had two hits to lead the Rebels.
Earlu picked up the win, allowed two runs, eight hits, and two walks. Arvey Huerta pitched 1 2/3 innings, allowed two hits and a walk. Jacob Hungerford pitched 1 1/3 innings, struck out one and walked one,
Ermis and Davis each had two hits in Temple's 10-hit output.
Tenery pitched seven innings, but did not factor in the decision. He allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits, struck out six and walked one. The Leopards bullpen combined for two innings pitched, allowed six runs on four hits, four walks, and two strikeouts.
Temple will travel to Hillsboro on Saturday to complete the four-game series with a doubleheader against Hill.