LONGVIEW, Texas -- Riley Davis produced his best start of the season and a five-run third inning broke open a close game as the LeTourneau baseball team took game one of the series with an 11-5 victory over Howard Payne in ASC play on Friday night at Conrad-Vernon Field.

Davis (3-1) got the win after going a season-high 6.1 innings and allowing one earned run on six hits. He struck out a season-high six and walked just two while throwing 97 pitches.

LeTourneau (11-11, 5-5 ASC) fell behind 2-0 after the top of the first, but responded with a run in the home-half of the inning. Carter Amarantos picked up the first of his three RBIs on the night with a two-out single that plated Dane Jones to make it 2-1.

In the third, LeTourneau sent 10 men to the dish and scored five times to grab a 6-2 lead. Amarantos had a two-run double sandwiched around a Kyle Maysonave bases-loaded walk along with an Andrew Klingenstein sacrifice fly and a Devin Greaff RBI single.

That was more than enough run support for Davis on the mound. The lefty allowed just three hits over his final 5.1 innings of work and all six hits allowed were singles.

LeTourneau stretched the lead with three runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth. Cole Thompson drove in two with his single in the fifth followed by a Jones sacrifice fly that made it 9-2. In the sixth, Klingenstein had an RBI double and Jones worked a bases-loaded walk to make it 11-2.

Amarantos, Klingenstein, Ethan Wood, Lane Williams, and Greaff all had two hits in the win. Thompson's hit extended his hitting streak to 16 games, while Williams extended his on-base streak to 22 this season.

TJ Spitdowski finished off the game on the mound with 1.2 scoreless innings.

Brendan Read (1-3) got the loss for Howard Payne (9-11, 4-6 ASC). Seth Bowman and Tanner Benson each had two hits for the guests.

UP NEXT

LeTourneau and Howard Payne conclude the series with a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1 p.m.