LONGVIEW, Texas -- The LeTourneau baseball team could not hold a 6-3 lead in the late innings and fell, 7-6, in the ASC opener to Ozarks on Friday night at Conrad-Vernon Field.

Down 3-0 in the second inning, LeTourneau bounced back with two runs in the second and four in the fourth to take a lead.

Ethan Wood delivered an RBI single to get the YellowJackets on the board in the second before a bases-loaded walk from Hayden Norris brought in Wood to make it 3-2.

LeTourneau scored four times in the fourth to grab the lead. Xander Nabors produced a two-run single and Ben Jones ripped a two-run double in the inning.

Nabors and Jones each had two hits and two RBIs on the night. LeTourneau totaled seven hits.

That lead lasted until Ozarks (4-3, 1-0 ASC) scored three times in the sixth to even the score. The YellowJackets had runners in scoring position in both the sixth and seventh innings, but could not bring across the go-ahead run.

In the ninth, Brice Cagel delivered a two-strike RBI single to left field that scored Maxon Beasha to give the visiting Eagles the lead.

Jeter Fullbright (1-0) closed the door in the ninth to seal the win for Ozarks.

Dalton Pickett made the start and went 5.1 innings with five strikeouts and three earned runs. Camden Miller tossed two scoreless innings out of the bullpen for LeTourneau. Zac Schneider (0-2) was saddled with the loss, but he surrendered just one run in 1.2 innings.

UP NEXT

LeTourneau and Ozarks complete the series on Saturday with a doubleheader (12 p.m.).

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