BROWNWOOD, Texas -- The LeTourneau baseball team got another outstanding start from Dalton Pickett and the offense rallied the YellowJackets to a 6-4 victory over Howard Payne in the ASC series opener on Friday afternoon.

LeTourneau (9-11, 3-4 ASC) has won three straight games.

Pickett (2-2) picked up his second win of the year as he went a career-long 8.2 innings and allowed four runs and struck out four. It was his fifth start of at least six innings pitched and the second in which he totaled at least eight innings this season.

Howard Payne (7-12, 3-7 ASC) struck for two runs in the first inning, but LeTourneau rallied.

Zach Zarko started a three-run rally in the third inning with a one-out single, one of three hits for him on the day. Dane Jones drove in Zarko as he grounded into a fielder's choice that led to a Howard Payne error. Ben Jones followed with an RBI single and Xander Nabors capped the inning with a sacrifice fly to make it 3-2.

LeTourneau added to its lead with two runs in the fifth. Ben Jones reached with two outs and Nabors followed with a run-scoring single. The YellowJackets plated another as Howard Payne mishandled a grounder and Nabors was able to cross to make it 5-2.

After allowing two runs in the first inning, Pickett tossed seven straight scoreless innings.

LeTourneau tacked on another in the eighth on a Hayden Norris sacrifice fly that extended the lead to 6-2.

Pickett nearly had the complete game, but Howard Payne shrunk the lead to 6-3 on Derek Gifford's two-out triple in the ninth. TJ Spitdowski came on and got the final out to record his second save of the year.

Zarko went 3-for-4 with a run scored and a stolen base. Dane Jones, Ben Jones, and Nabors each had two hits as LeTourneau totaled 12.

Gary Blair (0-4) got the loss for Howard Payne after allowing one earned run in six innings. Gifford had three hits in the loss.

UP NEXT

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

FOLLOW THE YELLOWJACKETS

Be sure to follow LeTourneau athletics all season long on letuathletics.com and on social media at Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram for up-to-date scores, news, and other information.