LONGVIEW, Texas- Coming off a 13-1 loss in game one Thursday night, the LeTourneau University baseball team redeemed themselves with a 5-3 victory in game two against Louisiana College before falling in the series finale by a score of 10-3 at Conrad-Vernon Field on Friday, March 29th.

The split moves the YellowJackets to 16-11 overall and 6-3 in American Southwest Conference action while the Wildcats move to 20-6 overall and 8-4 in ASC play.

Game One:
Louisiana College carried their hot bats from Thursday into the twin bill opener as the Wildcats opened the contest scoring three runs off four hits. Jacob Faubion helped the YellowJackets chip away at the LC lead in the bottom half of the second as he sent a sacrifice fly to right field to score Noah Mahoney from third. Lee Hosie followed by hitting a two-RBI single to score Eli Birriel and Will Bradshaw which tied things up at 3-3 heading to the third. 

The next three innings of action would go scoreless to keep the game at 3-3 as a total of four hits between the two squads would be had in the middle stage of the game before seeing LeTourneau break through in the bottom of the sixth. After two quick outs to lead off the inning, Faubion would manage to find his way on base with a single to start what would become a two-out rally as Hosie came through big once again by sending a double down the left field line to score Faubion from first and give the YellowJackets their first lead of the series. Weston McKinley added one more run with an RBI single through the left side to extend the lead to 5-3 as LETU would be just three outs away from a win.

The Wildcats would be unable to record a hit in the final frame as sophomore Kolton Eberlan came in to retire the side and secure the YellowJacket victory and tie the series at one game each.

Andrew Harlan earned the win on the mound for the YellowJackets after tossing six innings while giving up just six hits and two earned runs. The save by Eberlan was his fourth of the year, earning his fourth save of the year and first save since March 9th. Hosie led LETU offensively, recording two hits and a team-high three RBI as just four other YellowJackets saw a hit in the contest.

Game Two:
LC wasted no time getting on the board in game two, bringing across four runs off five hits in the first inning of action. The YellowJackets would be forced to wait until their second at bat to respond, when senior Jacob Jones led off the inning by drawing a walk before Cody Lee brought him around on a two-run homerun over the left field fence.

The Wildcats managed to get both runs back in the top of the third off a two-RBI single up the middle as LC increased their lead back to four at 6-2. Louisiana College would  manage to hold the YellowJacket offense scoreless over the next four-plus innings, while tacking on four additional runs to push their lead to 10-2.

LeTourneau would find one final surge come in the bottom half of the seventh inning when Birriel would reach base on a leadoff double and come around to score off a Wildcat error to make the score 10-3. The YellowJackets would be unable to find any further offensive production in the final two innings as they fell in game three, suffering a 2-1 series loss.

Raul Martinez took his first loss of the season giving up seven hits and six earned runs in 2.1 innings of work. Konner Gayle, Eberlan and Jared Schurig each also saw action on the mound for the YellowJackets. Lee and Birriel each had a team-high two hits while two other YellowJackets (Brandon Ramirez, Bryce Brueggemeyer) would account for the other two LETU hits.

What's Next?
LETU will be back in action on Friday, April 5th against their East Texas rival, East Texas Baptist University in Marshall, Texas at 7 p.m. The series will feature two of the top five teams in the ASC standings as the two squads both have a .667 winning percentage in conference action.