LONGVIEW, Texas- Searching for their second American Southwest Conference sweep of the year, the LeTourneau University softball team did so in walk-off fashion with an 8-6 eight-inning victory over Mary Hardin-Baylor on Saturday ,March 2nd.

The YellowJackets improve to 9-4 on the season and 7-2 in ASC action. The loss drops the Crusaders to 5-8 overall and 5-4 in conference play.

The Crusaders came out swinging in the top of the first, recording two hits on one run to open the contest. LETU followed with a similar offensive attack as Macey Mize and Haydn Parker reached base with two outs. Hana Bonner showed no signs of halting the rally as she sent a three-run home run over the left field wall to make it 3-1 in favor of LETU. Katelynn Trombley and Ashley Crawford would then set the table for a pair of freshmen in Taylor Nichols and Emilee Anderson to rip back-to-back RBI's as the YellowJackets headed into the second inning holding a 5-1 lead.

In an attempt to cut the deficit, the Crusaders loaded the bases in the top of the second but only managed to scratch one run across in the frame off a wild pitch to make it 5-2 where the score remained until the fifth.

A trio of hits and three RBI's did the job for UMHB to deadlock the game at five in the top of the fifth inning. The Crusaders added to their total once again in the sixth, following a double to begin the inning. LETU continued the back and forth in the bottom half of the frame when Silver Montgomery scored off a single from Parker.

UMHB posed a big threat in the final inning but the LETU defense denied their efforts as the Crusaders stranded two runners in scoring position. The YellowJackets were also held scoreless in the bottom of the seventh pushing the game into extra innings.

After holding Mary Hardin-Baylor scoreless in the top half of the extra-frame, Emilee Anderson started things off for LETU with a single before seeing the Crusaders retire the next two YellowJacket hitters. With a ninth inning on the verge, Mize stepped to the plate and sealed the win with a two-run shot over the left center field fence to clinch the series sweep with a final score of 8-6.

Samantha Akers earned her fourth win of the season in the circle for the YellowJackets after pitching 3.2 innings and holding the Crusader offense to two hits, one earned run and two shutout innings. Anderson led the YellowJackets with three hits while Kennedi Dillow, Mize and Parker followed with two hits each.

The YellowJackets will look to continue their win streak as they travel to Alpine, Texas to face Sul Ross State in a three-game series beginning with a doubleheader on Friday, March 8th at 4:00 p.m. The Lobos will enter the series with a 5-5 overall record, coming off a series win over the University of the Ozarks.