LONGVIEW – Opportunity came knocking this weekend for the YellowJackets, and they took advantage of what they could. As the season starts to hit the final stretch, the focus becomes on winning as many as possible.
 
That is paramount.
 
LeTourneau University's baseball team split a doubleheader with Ozarks Sunday at Conrad-Vernon Field to claim their fourth American Southwest Conference series. LETU lost the first game, 7-4, in extra innings after the Eagles (13-8, 11-4 ASC) scored three runs in the eighth. The Jackets bounced back with a take-no-prisoners approach in the rubber game, winning 7-2.
 
"It looks a little bit better," shortstop Kameron Lindsey said after eyeballing his third straight 2-for-4 game at the plate and his team's .500 league mark on paper. "We're starting to come together as a team."
 
The Jackets (11-15, 9-9) will remain in the middle of the pack in the league race, but the two wins over the second place team in the league sets the stage for the stretch run, with six of their final nine regular season games at home against teams they are chasing.
 
"We know it's going to be tough," Jackets assistant coach Boone Privette said. "We don't ever miss any layup weekends, not that there is any. We've got a bunch of tough teams coming in. That's every single year. That's what we try to prepare these guys for, and the guys who've been here obviously understand it. The guys who have been here this season, they've seen enough good teams to know, 'Hey, you got to strap it on, and you've got to get after it.'"
 
The Jackets got after it in the fifth inning of the first game, scoring four runs to take a 4-3 lead. Noah Arellano and Weston McKinley each drove in a pair of runs. Arellano singled to left, and McKinley doubled down the left field line to lift the YellowJackets in front.
 
"Flat out, we just competed at the plate," Privette said. "We didn't give in."
 
Erick Aguirre homered to left in the next inning to tie the game for the Eagles, who were outhit in all three games in the series.  After Ozarks scored the go-ahead runs in the eighth, LETU loaded the bases on singles by Kyle Maysonave and Lindsey, and Lane Williams was hit by a pitch. But they couldn't push one across.
 
Both McKinley and Arellano had two hits and drove in a pair in a game the Jackets pounded 11 hits. Aguirre was 3-for-5 with a homer and three RBI. Jackson and Cody Stanley each went 1-for-3.
 
LeTourneau starter Jared Schurig worked five innings, allowing three runs on five hits and four walks. He struck out four. Jedidiah Crone (0-2) suffered the loss, giving up three earned runs, three hits and a walk, while fanning three in two innings. Zach Brizendin (2-0) picked up the win in relief, going 1.2 innings without allowing a baserunner, and Kris Sloan earned his fifth save on the year.
 
Bryce Brueggemeyer gave the Jackets a lift in the second game when he crushed a home run to left center in the first inning. It was his first moonshot of the year.
 
"Brueggy hit a ball a mile, it seemed like," Privette said.
 
Ozarks tied the game with runs in the second and the third. Arellano untied it in the fifth when his base knock to right scored Jones, who had a hit and a walk in three plate appearances. McKinley roped a ball down the left field line, and did a little Goofy Goober shimmy shake at second after the Jackets thought they'd tacked on an insurance run. But after Ozarks' skipper came out of the dugout to protest the use of a bat, and a lengthy discussion between umpires and coaches unraveled, the run was taken off the board.
 
"It kind of goes back to what (head coach) Robin (Harriss) talked about with the club in having some mental toughness and persevering, and just overcoming those situations," Privette said. "We had a big inning, and one of our best players, if not our best player, hits that ball, and gets run out of the game because of it. Takes a run off the board. A lot of teams may have let that eat 'em up. Instead, man, we just rallied, and we absolutely put it on 'em the next couple innings, and took care of business."
 
Lindsey got it started, doubling to center to drive in Jackson and Noe Balderas. Brueggemeyer singled to center to score Lindsey, making it 6-2. Anthony Ybarra finished the Eagles off with a single through the left side to drive in Jones, who had come on to pitch an inning earlier.
 
"I've had great teammates pick me up," Lindsey said after his six hits became a batting average-spiking weekend. "That (fifth inning) was a tough one for us. We came back the next inning, and just had to grind out at-bats. Chaz smoked a ball to right-center. If that ball doesn't bounce over the fence, he's getting a triple, and he's getting an RBI."
 
All seven of LeTourneau's runs came via the RBI. Brueggemeyer, who was 3-for-4, accounted for three of them, and Lindsey two more. Noe Balderas was 2-for-3 at the plate.
 
LeTourneau starter Raul Martinez evened his record at 3-3 with another nifty performance. He allowed two runs on five hits and three walks, and struck out nine in five innings.
 
"We always have faith in Raul," Lindsey said. "Any time he's on the mind, for sure, he's always going to compete."
 
Compete the YellowJackets did on this weekend.