LONGVIEW, Texas - Battling back from a 3-1 deficit to tie the score in the sixth, the LeTourneau University baseball team took advantage of a seventh-inning error to score two runs and claim a 5-3 victory over Sul Ross State University at Conrad-Vernon Field on Monday, April 9th.
The victory gives LETU a 17-12 overall record and a 9-6 record in the American Southwest Conference while the Lobos fell to 19-12 overall and 13-5 in the ASC.
Runs proved to be at a premium throughout, with the YellowJackets scoring one run in the bottom of the second after loading the bases with no outs, but the Lobos managed to get out of the jam without any more damage done as LETU would leave one runner on base. The lead would be relatively short-lived as SRSU came back to put up two runs in the top of the fourth, doing their damage with two outs in the inning on an RBI double and RBI single to claim their first lead of the afternoon.
A single run for the Lobos in the top of the fifth extended the Sul Ross lead to 3-1 as a leadoff single would come around to score on a sacrifice fly later in the inning as the LeTourneau offense could not avoid the twin killing of double plays in the middle innings with the third and fourth innings both ending on double plays.
It would only take two hits in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game at 3-3 as a hit batter, stolen base, single, and balk cut the Lobo lead to 3-2. After a groundout to move junior
Lee Hosie from second to third,
Bubba Valdez would hit a sacrifice fly to bring home the tying run to reset the game heading into the seventh.
The bottom of the seventh saw
Noah Mahoney and the YellowJackets take advantage of an error to put the go-ahead runner aboard before seeing back-to-back groundouts leave a runner on third with nine-hole hitter
Eli Birriel coming up to the plate. Birriel delivered on a 2-1 pitch by hitting a single into right field to score Mahoney and give LeTourneau their first lead of the series since the early stages of game one. Hosie would draw a walk to keep the inning alive as
Gonzalo Sosa added an insurance run with an RBI single up the middle to score Birriel with both runs coming as unearned runs in the inning.
LETU would then have to escape an eighth-inning jam as a one-out single and hit batter put the game-tying run aboard before a walk loaded the bases. A strikeout looking and lineout to
Will Bradshaw would end the inning and allow the YellowJackets to get out of the inning unscathed before working around a one-out single in the ninth to hold on for the victory.
Starter
Bryce Brueggemeyer worked his way through seven complete innings of work and earn his fourth victory of the year, allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out just two batters. Valdez and Bradshaw each tossed one inning in relief, with Bradshaw earning his second save in only his second appearance on the mound this year.
Hosie led the YellowJackets with two hits in the game, also drawing one walk while scoring once. Bradshaw officially finished one-for-one at the dish, drawing three walks in addition to a single.
The beginning of a six-game road trip starts on Friday, April 13th at 6 p.m. when the YellowJackets take on Belhaven University in Jackson, Miss.
