LONGVIEW, Texas – Needing a win to secure a spot in next week's American Southwest Conference Tournament, the LeTourneau University baseball team would pick up a 6-3 victory in game before falling in game two by a score of 19-7 to split a senior day doubleheader to Texas-Dallas at Conrad-Vernon Field in Longview, Texas on Saturday, April 27th.
 
The split concludes the regular season for LETU at 21-19 overall and 10-11 in the ASC while the Comets move to 20-19 overall and 12-9 in conference play.
 
Game One:
Strong pitching and the long ball on offense would prove to the key to success for the YellowJackets in game one as LeTourneau starting pitcher Kolton Eberlan would toss a complete-game two hitter while striking out four. A solo home run by Will Bradshaw in the bottom of the second would put LETU up 1-0 before the Comets would respond with a leadoff walk and pair of stolen bases to set up a sacrifice fly in the top of the fourth to tie things at one.
 
Two straight one-out singles put a pair on for senior Jacob Jones to send a three-run home run over the left center field fence and allow the YellowJackets to reclaim the lead at 4-1. Bradshaw would tack on an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth for LeTourneau with an RBI single before coming around to score on a Kyle Guevara RBI single to put LETU in full control up 6-1. The no-hit bid by Eberlan would extend into the top of the seventh inning as UTD scored two runs on two hits and one error to try and get back in the game but could not come up with enough offense late.
 
Guevara would lead LeTourneau with a perfect three-for-three performance to go along with one RBI while Bradshaw collected two hits, drove in two, and scored twice. LETU would strike out just twice in the game and would strand just three runners on eight hits.
 
Game Two:
Things would get away from the YellowJackets early as the Comets would come out swinging and score five runs on six hits in the top of the first inning to jump out to a 5-0 lead after one inning of play. Two runs on Cody Lee home run in the bottom of the second would get LeTourneau on the board and back into the game before the two teams would trade runs in the third inning to put the score at 6-3 going to the top of the fourth.
 
Texas-Dallas would add another run in the top of the fourth with a solo home run, but LETU would respond once again as Jayden Banks would drive in Lee on a two-out RBI single. The Comets would continue their offensive attack by adding one run in both the fifth and sixth innings to go up 9-4 and would break the game open for good with four runs on two hits and four walks in the top of the seventh.
 
Two more runs for the Comets in the eighth would threaten to end the game after eight innings due to an 11-run LeTourneau deficit, but the YellowJackets would battle and score three runs on four hits in the bottom of the eighth to keep the game going. The scoring wouldn't be done however as Texas-Dallas put up four more runs on a pair of hits in the ninth to put the final score at 19-7 in the rubber match to allow the Comets a series win.
 
Stranded runners would prove to be a problem for both teams as the contest would feature 24 total runners left on base (14 for UTD, 10 for LETU) to go along with 30 total hits. LeTourneau pounded out 14 total hits but would only record three extra-base hits as Bryce Brueggemeyer and Lee would be the only two YellowJackets to go for extra-bases. In his final home game of his career, senior Brandon Ramirez would go three-for-five at the plate with one RBI and one run scored while Banks collected two hits in three at-bats.
 
What's Next?
LeTourneau will make their second-consecutive appearance in the American Southwest Conference Baseball Tournament when they take on regular-season champion Howard Payne University in the opening round of the ASC Tournament Blue Bracket Tournament on Thursday, May 2nd. An official start time is still being determined, as the battle of the YellowJackets will be the fourth meeting of the season between the two squads. LETU and HPU met back on April 12 and 13 in Longview, with LeTourneau taking two games in extra-innings before falling in the series finale 5-4.