FARMERS BRANCH - The LeTourneau YellowJackets split the final day of the American Southwest Conference First Pitch Tournament on Saturday afternoon. The Jackets knocked off the Hardin-Simmons Cowboys before dropping a thriller to Concordia (TX) later that day.

In the first game, senior Juliana Tuel led the game off with a single, followed by stealing second, and advancing to third on a wild pitch. After a walk was issued to freshman Taylor Kaderli, she stole second to get into scoring position with no outs. Junior Anna Winter grounded out to second to score one and junior Sara Whitehead drove in another to give LeTourneau a 2-0 lead.

After giving up a run in the bottom half of the first, the Jackets scored another in the second off a RBI single from Tuel. Junior Taylor Thibodeaux settled in and shut down the Cowgirls in the ensuing innings.

LeTourneau exploded in the fourth inning as Whitehead and freshman Shelby Borders led things off with singles followed by a hit by pitch to junior Kaylee Pritchett. The Jackets got back-to-back RBI singles from junior Chloe Cooper and freshman Megan Hill to extend their lead to 5-1. Tuel drove in another run on a fielder's choice followed by an executed double steal by her and Cooper. The Jackets added one more on a single by Winter followed by an error by Hardin-Simmons to push the lead to 7-1.

The Cowgirls scrapped to avoid elmination, but the Jackets continued to pound the ball as freshman Lana Holbrook drove in her first run of her career and Kaderli and Winter drove in a few RBIs. In the end, the Jackets earned a 12-6 win to go to 3-0 over the Cowgirls this season.

Thibodeaux picked up her fifth win of the season (5-0), pitching six innings and only allowing two earned runs while striking out five. Junior Kelli Parton saw some action in the circle as well.

Offensively, Cooper was fanatastic, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a RBI while Hill, Borders, Whitehead, Tuel, and Winter all had two hits. Winter and Tuel each had two RBIs while Tuel picked up two stolen bases and Cooper and Kaderli had one each. Freshman Erin Paterson had her first career hit as a Jacket in the seventh inning.

In the second game of the afternoon, the Jackets went into a thriller with Concordia. Tuel pushed her hitting streak to 14 games with a single to short. Kaderli reached on an error, but a lineout double play seemed to negate any big inning for the Jackets. However, junior Jourdan Glover scorched a triple into the right center gap to score one for the early lead.

However, the Tornadoes scrated a run across the board in the first and second for a 2-1 lead. 

LeTourneau kept putting together hits, but not push any runs across to show for it. Pritchett, the starter in the circle, was terrific throughout, keeping the Jackets within striking distance and making clutch pitches to keep the score as is.

The Jackets struck in the sixth as Whitehead walked and Borders doubled to make it second and third with no outs. Pritchett helped her own cause with a two RBI single up the middle for a 3-2 lead. LeTourneau looked to strike for more as they loaded the bases, but could not get a run across as Concordia's defense made fantastic plays on hard hit balls.

The Tornadoes answered in the bottom of the sixth with a two out, two RBI single to take a 4-3 lead. LeTourneau could not respond in the seventh and had their five game winning streak snapped.

Pritchett took the loss, falling to 1-1, but pitched well, going six innings and only allowing two earned runs while striking out three. 

Offensively, Pritchett was great, going 2-for-3 with two RBIs while Cooper was 2-for-3 again on the day. Borders and Tuel also went 2-for-4. The Jackets struck for 12 hits, but only had three runs to show for it.

It was a solid weekend for LeTourneau at the ASC First Pitch Tournament as they finished 3-1. The East defeated the West handidly, 22-6 throughout the tournament. LeTourneau moves to 11-3 overall as they now turn their attention to ASC play on Tuesday.

They will travel back to the Dallas area, this time to Richardson, Texas, as they take on the Texas-Dallas Comets on Tuesday in a doubleheader. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.