SHREVEPORT, La. – Leaving 10 runners stranded on base, the LeTourneau University baseball team would see the Centenary College Gents pick up two runs in the third along with single runs in the fourth and sixth innings to down the YellowJackets by a final score of 4-1 at Shehee Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana on Thursday, February 15th.
The loss leaves LETU with a 2-2 overall record while the Gents improved to 6-1 overall on the season.
"We knew that making the routine play was going to be the key to the game along with offense' said head coach
Robin Harriss in a post-game interview. We got what we needed offensively and we certainly don't want to leave 10 runners on base, but you would think that 11 hits would lead to more than one run." "Two out hits and clutch hitting is something that we will work on and we will start to get the clutch hit once we start to settle into our roles and feel comfortable with the position that we're put in."
Four players for the YellowJackets would collect multiple hits in the game, with seven players total getting a hit in the game. Leadoff hitter
Eli Birriel would collect LeTourneau's only RBI of the game, while
Gonzalo Sosa,
Bubba Valdez, and
Jacob Jones all recorded one stolen base in the game.
Starting pitcher
Bryce Brueggemeyer would take the loss to fall to 0-2 on the season, tossing 6.1 innings and allowing four runs (two earned) on eight hits while striking out two. Brueggemeyer would face 31 batters total and throw 93 pitches on the evening, before making way for
Kolton Eberlan who tossed a hitless 1.2 innings of work.
A quiet first two innings to the game made way for the YellowJackets in the top of the third as the bottom of the lineup for LETU would turn the lineup over as Jones would collect a leadoff single and steal second. Following a strikeout,
Chaz Jackson would strike out on a pitch in the dirt, but reach base safely as Jones moved over to third and kept things at one out. Birriel would keep the inning going with a single to right field that moved Jackson to third and scored Jones, but an inning-ending double-play limited the scoring output to a single run.
Centenary wasted no-time in their half of the third to get things going, collecting a leadoff double and sacrifice bunt before a walk would put runners on the corners with one-out. A throwing error on a steal by Cade Lastovica to second allowed for Cole Lavergne to come home and tie the game at one as Lastovica would take third due to the error. An RBI double made the score 2-1 in favor of the Gents as LETU would escape the inning with a groundout and flyout to end the inning.
LeTourneau would go one-two-three in the top of the fourth before the Gents tacked on a third run by taking advantage of a hit batsman and stolen base before a throwing error allowed for Lavergne to score for the second time on the evening. LETU would get a chance to tie the game in the top of the fifth as designated hitter
Carson Dickey would draw a leadoff walk before Jones followed up with a single to put two runners on with no outs. A sacrifice bunt moved both runners 90 feet closer to home, but two straight groundouts ended the inning and left two runners stranded in the inning.
The final run of the game would come in the bottom of the sixth as a leadoff double for Ian Graham and throwing error would put two runners on for the Gents with no outs. A sacrifice bunt and strike out would give the YellowJackets a chance to escape without any damage, but a Lavergne infield single brought home the second unearned run of the game to make the score 4-1 in favor of Centenary.
LeTourneau would get chances to answer in both the eighth and ninth innings, but the YellowJackets stranded two runners each in both innings as Gents reliever Cole Godkin earned his first save of the season by tossing two scoreless innings and striking out three.
LETU will play their home opener tomorrow evening when they host ASC rival East Texas Baptist University at Conrad-Vernon Field for a non-conference game. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
