The Temple College baseball team hosted Grayson College in the opening doubleheader of their North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference series at the Danny Scott Sports Complex.
The Leopards pounced on the Vikings early in both games, and Grayson rallied late in both games. In game one, TC hung on, but was not successful in game two as the Temple and Grayson split the doubleheader.
In the opener, Temple won 6-2. In the second game, Grayson erased a 7-2 deficit to win 10-9.
The Leopards got to Grayson starting pitcher Murphy Page in the first inning. Kade Davis opened the scoring with a double that scored Wade Stallones. Chase Fricke's single scored Davis and Kash Millar, and Elias Leon-Padilla's fielder's choice scored Kanyon Millar to make the score 4-0 in the bottom of the first.
Page was replaced by Jacob Reish, and Stallone's single scored Leon-Padilla to lift Temple's lead to five.
Peanut Brazzle doubled home Chase Fricke in the bottom of the fifth to increase the Leopards' advantage to 6-0.
Peyton Reynolds shutout bid was foiled by the Vikings in the top of the seventh. David Hogg II's groundout scored Isaac Rios and Blake Lewis' single scored Boyd Thompson to bring the Vikings to within four. Reynolds induced a groundout by Colton Roquemore to end the game.
Fricke and Davis each had two hits in Temple's six-hit output. The Leopards drew four of their five walks in the opening inning.
Reynolds picked up the complete game win, allowed two runs on seven hits, struck out five, and walked one in seven innings.
Rios had two of Grayson's seven hits in the opener.
Page took the loss. In 2/3 inning, Page allowed five runs on two hits, walked four and hit a batter. Reish pitched 5 1/3 innings in relief, allowed a run on four hits, struck out two, and walked one.
Kanyon Millar's single in the bottom of the first inning of game two scored Kash Millar to give Temple an early 1-0 lead.
Hogg's line drive single to left scored Caleb Watkins to tie the game at 1-1 in the second. JT Cienega's sacrifice fly scored Reese Ogden to put Grayson out front, 2-1.
Temple (23-14 overall, 9-5 NTJCAC) answered with two runs in the bottom of the second. Kash Millar's single scored Ricky Montijo and Brazzle to give the Leopards a 3-2 lead.
Sage Sanders hit a line shot off Rios at first base in the third innings to score Kanyon Millar. Brazzle's groundout scored Hunter Baros to increase Temple's lead to three.
Davis' double scored Stallones and Fricke's single scored Davis in the fourth inning to push the lead to five.
Grayson (20-13 overall, 14-4 NTJCAC) began their comeback in the top of the fifth. Page singled home Easton Paxton to cut the margin to three.
The Vikings plated four in the top of the sixth. An RBI triple by Lewis, bases-loaded hit-by-pitch drawn by Watkins, sacrifice fly by Ogden, and RBI single by Page tied the game at 7-7.
Temple scored twice in the bottom of the sixth when Kash and Kanyon both scored on an error by Hogg in short rightfield to give the Leopards a 9-7 lead.
A Temple error in the top of the seven pulled the Vikings to within one.
The Vikings scored on an error in the top of the ninth to tie the game, and Paxton's sacrifice fly scored Roquemore to give Grayson a 10-9 lead.
Fricke walked to lead off the bottom of the ninth and, with one out, courtesy runner Cameron Bartz took second on a passed ball. Sanders walked to put the potential winning run at first. The Vikings induced two flyouts to end the game.
Brazzle, Davis, and Kash Millar each had two hits in Temple's nine-hit performance. The Leopards drew six walks, Baros having led the way with two. Kash Millar and Kanyon Millar each scored two runs.
Thomas Perez started on the hill for TC, but did not factor in the decision. He pitched five innings, allowed three runs on ten hits, struck out five and walked two. Four Temple relievers combined to pitch four innings, allowed seven runs (four earned) on six hits, struck out four, walked four, and hit two batters.
The Leopards committed a season-high five errors.
Grayson clubbed 16 hits, with Page having collected four hits.
Grant Origer pitched five innings, allowed seven runs (five earned) on nine hits, walked four, and struck out one. Jack Sharp picked up the win in relief and Caleb Daniell nabbed the save.
The series will conclude Friday in Denison with a doubleheader starting at noon.