BROWNWOOD, Texas - The Austin College softball team dropped both halves of its season-opening doubleheader at Howard Payne on Saturday, falling 10-3 in game one and 8-0 in game two.

The 'Roos gave up a pair of runs in the bottom of the first in game one, but a passed ball scored Ashley Elliott and Taylor Levan singled home Emma Martinez in the second to square things up. The Jackets took the lead back in the bottom of the third with a run, and three more runs came across in the fourth as HPU extended the lead to 6-2. Howard Payne scored again in the fifth to make it 7-2 before Austin College got a run in the sixth as Mari Prazak stole home, but the Jackets would tack on three more runs in the bottom half of the inning to make it a 10-3 final.

Prazak finished the game going 2-for-3 at the plate to pace the 'Roos offensively, while Nikole High took the loss in the circle after surrendering seven runs - only two earned - on seven hits in 4.1 innings of work.

In game two, Howard Payne jumped on top 4-0 after the first inning and nevel looked back as Austin College struggled to get things going offensively, mustering three hits in the game. HPU added a run in the third to make it 5-0, and three more runs came across in the fifth to make it an 8-0 final. Jaide Vidal, Avery Atencio, and Karsen Lampkin each collected a hit for Austin College while Hannah Richendollar took the loss, giving up eight runs - three earned - on seven hits in 4.1 innings of action.