RIVALRY REPLAY | PHOTOS 

LONGVIEW – Who needed rain or lightning? The YellowJackets had electricity flowing out of themselves.
 
On a day where the game was initially called off on account of rain, and then brought back to life, LeTourneau's baseball team gave itself a jolt with a 5-1 win over arch-rival East Texas Baptist Friday at Conrad-Vernon Field.
 
"As soon as we got to the field, I felt something different about the team," starting pitcher Raul Martinez said. "I knew we were going to do it today. I just felt like the bats came around, and we got the job done."
 
The win was LeTourneau's 15^th of the season, and it assured the Jackets of an American Southwest Conference postseason tournament berth.
 
"The big thing tonight is we're in the playoffs now," said Kameron Lindsey, following a 2-for-3 night in which he drove in three runs. "That's all that matters."
 
LeTourneau (15-18, 13-12 ASC) will meet ETBU (24-14, 17-8) in a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday on Senior Day to close the regular season. The ASC Championship Tournament begins Thursday.
 
Martinez (5-2) ushered the Jackets there behind a dynamite performance on the bump. He struck out a career-high 11 batters, fanning everyone but Will Kelley in the Tigers' lineup at least once. He went seven innings, scattering five hits, and gave up one run – which followed a lengthy field discussion when the ETBU coach was tossed – and didn't walk a batter through 118 offerings.
 
"Last time I came up here, we were talking about Raul," Lindsey said. "He did a great job today. Seven innings, 11 Ks. That's all you can ask for, more than you can ask for."
 
The Jackets got exactly what they asked for from their pitchers on a night they struck out 17 Tigers hitters. Kolton Eberlan came on in the eighth, and struck six of the seven batters he faced over the final two innings to record his team-leading fourth save of the year.
 
"EB's something different," Lindsey said. "We always know when he goes in the game, we've got a chance to win. He's our closer. We always expect him to do well, and he expects to do well himself, and that was amazing."
 
The clutch hitting was something special on this night, too. LeTourneau, which has knocked off four of the top five teams in the league in the last month, broke a scoreless tie in the third when Bryce Brueggemeyer singled down the left field line to bring home Lindsey. David Pugh scored on a passed ball to make it 2-0. In the fourth, Lindsey singled to center to drive in a run, growing the lead to three runs.
 
With Martinez dealing in the sixth, a long discussion between the Tigers coach and the umpires ensued. After the delay in the action, Jake Miller homered to left to break up the shutout. Martinez struck out the next batter to end the inning. It was a routine pattern the Conrad-Vernon faithful saw a lot of on this night as the Jackets' ace sent five ETBU hitters packing to end the inning in five of the seven he toed the rubber.
 
"Early in the game, we were throwing cutter and curve ball, and they were both on today," Martinez said after ringing up double digit strikeouts for the second time this season. "We were able to get ahead in counts."
 
Repeatedly. And then put the Tigers hitters away.
 
LeTourneau tacked on a couple insurance runs in the eighth when Lindsey singled through the right side to score Anthony Ybarra and Noe Balderas. Eberlan did the rest.
 
The top five batters in the Jackets' lineup all hit safely. Pugh, Brueggemeyer, Weston McKinley and Jaggar Vaughn each came up with a hit. Cody Stanley and Chaz Jackson also had one of LETU's eight hits.
 
"We're just going to keep swinging it," Lindsey said. "As a team, we've been heating up. That's the big thing right now, stringing hits together at the right time, and taking care of business."