LONGVIEW - The LeTourneau YellowJacket baseball team hit the road on Thursday afternoon as they took on their arch rivals, the East Texas Baptist Tigers in American Southwest Conference play. The Jackets got a huge performance offensively and rode the arm of junior Curt Copeland to an 11-5 win. 

After scoring only three runs in their last three games; the Jackets opened the first inning up with four runs. Junior Bryce Griffin got things started with a hit by pitch with one out followed by a single from junior Garrett Methvin. Sophomore Ryan Bertram came to the plate and laced a double down the left field line for the early 2-0 lead. 

Junior Chris Bertram followed that up with a RBI double to left center while freshman Dillon Yates grounded out to short to score another run and increase the lead to 4-0.

Copeland sailed through the first inning including a strike him out, throw him out to end it and the Jackets went back to work in the second. Senior Brent Sellers led things off with a single and then stole second and was able to move to third on an error. Junior Dustin Varnado then walked and stole second to set things up with one out. 

Senior Rhett Bohannon answered with a two RBI triple to right center to increase the lead to 6-0. Griffin then flied out to left to score Bohannon as the Jackets continued to roll.

East Texas Baptist did not go down quietly, getting runs in the fifth, sixth, and seventh, maily from errors, to make it a 7-4 game.

However, the Jackets killed any momentum in the eighth as Yates led the inning off with a one out single. After a fly out, Sellers was hit by a pitch and Varnado reach on an infield single to load the bases with two away. Bohannon struck again for a two RBI single to make it 9-4.

After a double steal executed perfectly by Varnado and Bohannon; Griffin put the game out of reach for good with a two RBI single up the middle and the Jackets finished the last two innings off for the 11-5 victory.

Copeland improved to 6-1 on the season, pitching eight complete innings while giving up eight hits, one earned run, and striking out six. Sophomore Ben Boles finished things off in the ninth, allowing on earned run. 

Bohannon had his best game of the season, going 3-for-5 with four RBIs and two runs scored. Griffin added a 1-for-2 day with three RBIs while R. Bertram added a 2-for-5 day with two runs driven in. Eight of the nine hitters in the starting lineup had hits while the first four batters in the lineup combined for nine RBIs on the day.

LeTourneau returns to action tomorrow as they look to win and possibly sweep the series in a doubleheader. First pitch of a seven inning game is set for 1 p.m. with a nine inning game set to follow.