LONGVIEW, Texas – Scrapping out a 2-1 seven-inning victory in game one, the LeTourneau University baseball team would break open 3-1 deficit with a five-run sixth-inning game two to come away with a 7-3 victory to earn a doubleheader sweep of visiting Wartburg College at Conrad-Vernon Field on Saturday, March 16th.
 
Winners of seven-straight, LETU is now 12-6 overall while the Knights fall to 2-8 overall.
 
"Our pitching was strong as we pitched well and anytime you can get deep into the game with your starters, you're going to put yourself in a position to win" said head coach Robin Harriss in a post-game interview. "What we have been able to do in a lot of our series this year is win the first two games which allows us to play a lot more relaxed in the series finale." "Our goal is to win the series and we've already done that, so it helps us relax tomorrow and just play baseball without having the pressure of trying to win the series."
 
Game One:
Hits would be few and far in between for both squads in the seven-inning opener as the YellowJackets would use a hit batter and Bryce Brueggemeyer sacrifice fly to get on the board to take a 1-0 lead after one-inning of play. Each team would end up stranding runners in the second frame and would be unable to put together any type of offensive rhythm until the late stages of the game.
 
With LeTourneau still holding a 1-0 lead going to the top of the sixth, Wartburg would use a one-out single along with a throwing error and passed ball to put the game-tying run just 90 feet away from scoring. An RBI-single would tie things at 1-1 with just one out and would be followed up by two more singles to load the bases and force a YellowJacket pitching change. The call to the bullpen would be just what the doctor ordered for LETU as a strikeout and fielder's choice would end the inning with the bases still loaded and no more runs coming across for the Knights to leave things knotted at 1-1.
 
Wanting to reclaim the lead in the sixth and avoid having to play the bottom of the seventh, LETU would get an infield single by junior Brandon Ramirez as a throwing error on the play would allow him to move to second. Following a strikeout and back-to-back walks, LeTourneau would push across a go-ahead run on a bases-loaded balk to score pinch-runner Mark Sanders before seeing their half of the inning end with the bases loaded in similar fashion to Wartburg.
 
LETU would look to be on their way to quickly ending things with two outs from the first two batters of the inning but would have to work around a fielding error and stolen base by getting a game-ending groundout to come away with a series-opening win.
 
LeTourneau starting pitcher Andrew Harlan would go 5.1 innings strong and allow just one run on seven hits while striking out seven, but it would be sophomore Kolton Eberlan who would pick up his second victory of the year to improve to 2-2. Eberlan would throw the final 1.2 innings of play and strike out one while not allowing a hit to any of the six batters he faced.
 
Two of LETU's three hits in the game would come from Jacob Jones, with Ramirez collecting the lone other YellowJacket hit. LeTourneau would manage to draw seven free passes in the game which would prove to be just enough offense to earn the victory.
 
Game Two:
A similar start to game two would find offense once again hard to come by as neither team would break through in the first three innings of play. With the game still scoreless going to the top of the fourth, Wartburg would put together a one-out rally to score three runs on three hits and a costly LeTourneau error as only one of the three runs would be earned.
 
The YellowJackets would get a run back in the bottom half of the fourth as a Jones leadoff single would allow for a passed ball and stolen base to put LETU's first run of the game in prime scoring position before a delayed steal by Matt Lowery allowed the run to score.
 
A hitless fifth inning along with a one-two-three top of the sixth brought LETU back up to the plate trailing by two with Jones once again leading off the inning. It would be the YellowJackets who would put together a one-out rally and take advantage of a Knight error as LeTourneau would bat around the order and score five runs on three hits to go along with two hit batters and a Wartburg error to claim their first lead of the game at 6-3.
 
Working with a three-run advantage, LETU would send starting pitcher Kolbey Sharpe back out to toss a scoreless seventh before leaving a pair of runners on in the bottom of the seventh to send things to the eighth with LeTourneau maintaining their 6-3 lead.
 
Wartburg would be unable to start any kind of rally in the eighth, which allowed LETU to come back up and add one additional insurance run with three-straight two-out singles. The Knights would manage just a one-out walk in the top of the ninth as Wartburg recorded just one hit in the final five innings of play.
 
Sharpe earned his second win of the year to improve to 2-0 while Ryder Lognion picked up save number two of the season with two shutout innings. Cody Lee, Ramirez, and Jones would lead the YellowJackets with two hits each as Lee Hosie would join Ramirez with a team-high two RBI. All 10 of LETU's hits in the game would be singles, with six of the seven runs by LeTourneau scoring with two outs.
 
What's Next?
LeTourneau will get one more game against Wartburg to close out a three-game set on Sunday, March 17th at 1 p.m. The game is part of a run of eight consecutive non-conference games for the YellowJackets that kicked off this afternoon and concludes next Tuesday, March 26th.