POSTGAME INTERVIEW WITH CURT COPELAND

LONGVIEW - Friday night's matchup between the LeTourneau YellowJackets and the Texas-Dallas Comets featured two of the premier pitchers thus far in the American Southwest Conference in junior Curt Copeland of LETU and senior Derek Dallas of UTD.  

Copeland dominated this round, getting great support from his offense and defense behind him in an 11-1 victory over the Comets. 

Both teams went down quietly in the first two innings as Copeland and Dallas dominated both lineups. UT-Dallas got back-to-back two out singles in the third inning, but Copeland finished the inning off by getting a groundout to short to keep the game scoreless.

Senior Jay Lutz started the bottom half of the third inning by fighting off consecutive pitches before putting a ball in play and forcing an error on the shortstop. He then stole second base and was moved over to third on a bunt by junior Dustin Varnado. Lutz then scored on a passed ball as the Jackets went ahead 1-0.

Copeland put the Comets down quickly in the fourth and the Jackets went back to work. Junior Garrett Methvin got the inning rolling with a one out single to left followed by a single from sophomore Ryan Bertram and a hit by pitch to junior Chris Bertram. Freshman Dillon Yates doubled down the left field line to increase the lead to 3-0. Lutz then put another soft dribbler into play to score a run and then reached on an error by the shortstop. Senior Brent Sellers added a run on a fielder's choice and the Jackets were in control, leading 5-0.

Copeland continued to cruise and single by R. Bertram in the fifth made it a 6-0 game.

The Jackets put the game out of reach in the seventh, as RBIs from Yates, Lutz, and Sellers increased the lead to 11-0. The Comets added one in the eighth, but the Jackets prevailed with a convincing 11-1 win.

Copeland improves to 5-1 on the season, pitching a complete game and allowing six hits, no earned runs (one total), and striking out six. 

Offensively, Methvin led the way with a 3-for-5 day with two runs scored while Yates was 1-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Sellers was 2-for-4 with two RBIs while Lutz added a 1-for-4 day with two RBIs and two runs scored. Junior Bryce Griffin added a 2-for-5 day and R. Bertram also had two hits and a RBI.

The Jackets return to action tomorrow as they will wrap up the series with the Comets in a doubleheader. First game is set for 1 p.m. with the second one slated for 3:30. Live Video will be provided through letuathletics.tv and all fan are also encouraged to come out and support.