Three consecutive one-run losses had the Brazos Valley Bombers feeling snake-bit, but they found a dose of anti-venom Thursday night by delivering the strike instead of receiving it.

The Bombers scored their only earned run of the game in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a tie and beat first-place East Texas 8-7 in a Texas Collegiate League baseball game at the Brazos Valley Bank Ballpark.

Jordan Hammerman delivered the game-winning run with a two-out single, giving him three runs batted in during as the Bombers rallied from a 4-0 deficit. Hammerman, a junior from St. Louis University, also had a two-run single in the fourth inning.

"I felt like I was rolling over on the ball [trying too hard to pull it] all night," Hammerman said. "I just tried to stay up the middle or go the other way and hit the ball hard [in the eighth]. Hits fall when you go up the middle or the other way."

Little had gone the Bombers' way during three consecutive close losses. Brazos Valley dropped two road games to Acadiana and then on Wednesday saw a late tie with East Texas turn into a 4-3 loss when the Pump Jacks scored in the ninth inning.

The Pump Jacks put themselves in position to deal Brazos Valley another disappointment Thursday by scoring three runs in the top of the eighth to forge a 7-7 tie.

However, Casey Dykes started the bottom of the inning with a walk against East Texas reliever Brett Higginbotham (1-2). Scott Arthur pushed the runner to second with a sacrifice bunt, and the Bombers loaded the bases on a walk and a soft single by Matt Milligan. Jaron Long, the fourth ET pitcher, struck out John Cannon, but Hammerman poked a liner up the middle to drive in Dykes.

Bombers closer Garrett Shepperd retired the Jacks in order in the ninth to earn his ninth save.

"We've been in a little bit of a funk," Bombers coach Brent Alumbaugh said. "We were kind of snake-bit losing three straight one-run games. This was a good win. It wasn't necessarily the prettiest one with the way we gave away the lead, but we'll take them any way we can get them at this point in the season."

The Pump Jacks jumped ahead early, getting a three-run homer from Beau Maggi in the first. East Texas pushed the lead to 4-0 with an unearned run in the third.

For the second consecutive night, the Bombers offense emerged from an early game slumber with a big inning. This one was set up by a gift from Maggi, as the Pump Jacks catcher made a throwing error on a sacrifice attempt after singles by Dykes and Arthur. Hammerman capitalized with a two-run single and later scored on a hit by Trey Porras that made it 4-4.

Brazos Valley took its first lead of the two-game series with three more unearned runs in the sixth. An error by first baseman John Michael Twichell allowed the go-ahead run to score, and Brennyn Smith added a two-run double.

Twichell entered the game in the sixth as a replacement for starting first baseman Michael Sullivan, who was ejected in the top of the inning. Sullivan thought he had scored when he beat the throw to the plate on the back end of a double-steal attempt, but the umpire ruled that he missed the plate. The umpire tossed Sullivan almost immediately for something he said, and seconds later East Texas coach Ben Taylor said something to earn an early exit.

The Pump Jacks (25-12) fought back into the game with lots of help from the Bombers infielders. Relief pitcher Geoff Lomax and second baseman Smith started the eighth inning with errors. An infield single and a bunt single, both on balls that would have required very good plays, produced one run. The Jacks pulled even on a bases-loaded walk by Lomax and a wild pitch by the next reliever, Danny Kelley.

Texas A&M junior infielder Adam Smith, who was drafted as a pitcher by the New York Yankees, had a good outing in relief. Smith pitched two innings, striking out two and walking two while allowing one hit, an infield single.

The Bombers (19-18) will start a two-game series at Acadiana on Friday, then host the TCL all-star game Monday night.