The Victoria Generals traveled to Kilgore on Thursday to take on the East Texas Pump Jacks in a rematch of last year’s Texas Collegiate League Championship Series. The Generals dropped game one of the two-game set on Thursday by a final of 9-6.
The Generals sent Lucas Humpal to the mound for his first start of the season. Humpal was recently named a Freshman All-American after a standout season at Texas State University. After a 45 minute rain delay to start the game, the Generals got off to a sluggish start, committing several errors early in the game to allow the Pump Jacks to jump out to a 4-0 lead after three innings of play.
The Generals answered in the top of the fourth when Jacob Hubert hit a two-run triple to right field to score David Paiz, Jr. and Jordan Camel.
Lucas Humpal was relieved by his older brother Nathan in the fifth inning. Lucas allowed six runs (4 earned) on seven hits with seven strikeouts on the night as he took the loss.
The Pump Jacks responded with two runs in the bottom of the fifth and three in three sixth to make it a 9-2 ballgame.
Hubert led off the seventh with another triple and came into score on a sacrifice fly by Brett Hoffman to make it 9-3.
The Generals cut the Pump Jacks lead to 9-5 in the eighth inning as Frank Cloutier walked, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and came into score on an RBI groundout by Mac Seibert. David Paiz, Jr. added an RBI single later in the inning.
The Generals loaded the bases with one out in the ninth, but were only able to score one run on a bases-loaded walk to make it 9-6 before a strikeout and groundout ended the game.
The Generals and Pump Jacks will meet again on Friday night for game two of the series at 7:05pm at Driller Park in Kilgore.
The Generals return home on Saturday to face the Woodlands Strykers. Saturday is the fifth annual Diamonds on the Diamond event presented by Torin Bales Fine Jewelry. The first 100 women ages 18 and older at the game will be registered for the chance to win lots of great prizes, including the grand prize: diamond earrings from the Torin Bales Collection valued at $1,400. Gates open at 6:00pm and game time is 7:05pm.
Box Score: http://tcl-generals.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=139033
