Sophomore pitchers shine as AC earns road series split at Howard College

Second-year Badgers Logan Tibbett and Isaac Garza rose to the occasion when Amarillo College's postseason hopes were seemingly in the balance.

Their efforts on the hill last weekend in Big Spring guided AC to a series split against Howard College.

Tibbett tossed his third complete game of the season to open the series and allowed one earned run over seven innings during the Badgers 3-1 victory.

"He's been really good for us over the past three starts and he's getting better and better, more confident as the season progresses," AC head coach Brandon Rains said.

Garza threw a career-high 5 1/3 innings as a middle reliever during the series finale on Saturday. The Plainview native and West Texas A&M University baseball commit held the Hawks' potent bats to a pair of earned runs for his first career win with AC.

"Garza provided an incredible pick up for us when he was placed on the mound at the end of the first inning," Rains noted. "He stopped their momentum and provided us a much-needed spark."

Freshman Ja'Marcus Smith finished what Garza started.

The Lubbock Monterey High School alum recorded six strikeouts and one walk during the final three innings on the hill.

"Ja'Marcus Smith was absolutely electric out of the bullpen," Rains said.

The Badgers claimed the series finale by the score of 11-7, marking their eighth conference game with a double-digit run total.

In game four, AC's top 10 rated offense remedied a seven-game cold spell by hitting a trio of home runs and three doubles.

The offensive outburst was the first game in the past eight outings where AC scored a double-digit run total.

David De Hoyos' third inning solo shot narrowed the Badgers deficit to 3-1, followed by Brooks Carter's first homer against a Wester Junior College Athletic Conference opponent.

The Shallowater native, who leads AC in batting average (.453) through 36 games, launched a three-run blast over the scoreboard in right centerfield during the fifth inning. Carter's sixth homer of the season gave AC its first lead of the game (5-3).

"One of the big at-bats of the game was Brooks Carter fouling several pitches off and continuing to battle – I think it was around a 10-pitch at-bat," Rains said.

The Badgers never relinquished their advantage from that point forward.

Dylan Steele's second homer of 2025 provided the Badgers with much-needed breathing room during the eighth frame. The redshirt freshman catcher's three-run shot over the left field wall extended AC's lead to 9-5 with two outs.

Carter, De Hoyos, and Ellington Jefferson added one double apiece during AC's 11-hit performance in game four.

The Badgers sustained their fifth place standing in the WJCAC following the 2-2 showing in Big Spring. AC has a 10-6 WJCAC mark with five additional conference matchups left on the 2025 docket.

Rains expressed the significance of the series split in Big Spring.

"That fourth game was crucial to our season and critical to our standing," he said. "If we didn't walk as many guys in the third game, we probably would have had a chance to win that. In game two, we could have been better on defense, which cost us. If we clean some things up, we're a dangerous team to beat the rest of the way."

The Badgers final home series at Hodgetown is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, April 4-5, against Midland College. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for noon, followed by a 10 a.m. start time on Saturday.