LONGVIEW, Texas – Combining for 22 runs on 23 hits, the LeTourneau University baseball team would drop a 12-10 slugfest to visiting Wisconsin-Platteville at Conrad-Vernon Field on Monday, March 18th.
The loss drops LETU to 13-7 overall and snaps an eight-game win streak while the Pioneers improved to 3-6 overall after splitting their past four games.
UW-Platteville would waste no time getting out to an early lead as the first four batters of the game would safely reach base. In total, the Pioneers would collect four hits in the top of the first (all singles) to score four runs to hold a 4-0 lead after one inning of play.
LeTourneau would be sparked by a five-run bottom of the second inning to claim their first lead of the night as
Noah Mahoney and
Cody Lee would get the inning started with back-to-back singles. An infield single by
Jacob Faubion would deliver as a throwing error allowed both Mahoney and Lee to score before
Eli Birriel would drive Faubion home. A
Lee Hosie triple down the right field line and
Matt Lowery single down the left field line would end up bringing home the final two runs of the inning as a wild six-hit, five-run inning put things at 5-4 going to the third.
Following a scoreless third, LETU would continue to lock down on defense and hold the Pioneers without a run in the fourth before adding some insurance run on a towering two-out home run by
Bryce Brueggemeyer to make the score 7-4.
A single run by the YellowJackets in the bottom of the fifth pushed the lead to 8-4, but it would be Wisconsin-Platteville that would break through with a five-run top of the sixth inning as four hits, one walk, and a wild pitch allowed the Pioneers to go back on top by a score of 9-8.
The back-and-forth continued in the bottom of the seventh as LETU would get a Hosie sacrifice fly to score Faubion who would get on base via walk to lead off the inning and reclaim the lead on a Lowery sacrifice fly to score Birriel.
Wisconsin-Platteville would push across a single-run in the top of the eighth by taking advantage of a YellowJacket error to knot things at 10-10 and escape a two-out jam in the bottom half of the inning as LETU would load the bases before coming up empty.
It would be the Pioneers who would then break through in the ninth inning to put their leadoff man aboard and wind up scoring two runs on three hits and another LeTourneau error to go up 12-10 before shutting down the YellowJacket offense to end the game.
Four of LETU's 11 hits would come from the top three spots in the lineup as Lowery, Mahoney, and McKinley would each deliver two hits. Stranded runners proved to be an issue for the YellowJackets as 12 total runners would get left on base to go along with nine strikeouts by LeTourneau batters.
What's Next?
Non-conference play continues for the YellowJackets with a three-game series at the University of Texas-Tyler beginning on Friday, March 22nd at 7 p.m. The Patriots are in their final season as an NCAA Division III institution and are the reigning national champions.
