MARSHALL, Texas -- Jack Kale's walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth gave the No. 2 seeded LeTourneau baseball team a 7-6 comeback win over No. 4 seeded Hardin-Simmons on Saturday evening at Woods Field.

LeTourneau (23-19) fell to top-seed East Texas Baptist, 7-0, in a winners' bracket game earlier on Saturday but staved off elimination with a come-from-behind victory over Hardin-Simmons. The YellowJackets will face ETBU on Sunday at 1 p.m. in the championship round. LeTourneau must win twice to capture the ASC title.

Kale's walk-off capped a four-run rally for the YellowJackets. LeTourneau trailed 5-1 after two innings, but rallied to tie the game on Zach Baker's single to center field in the eighth inning. In the ninth, Hardin-Simmons intentionally walked Dane Jones to lead off the frame and the YellowJackets made the Cowboys pay.

Luke Land worked a one-out walk to put runners at first and second with one out. Kale then drilled a 2-0 pitch to center field and Jones raced around third and scored easily to give the YellowJackets the win. 

JACKETS WIN!

Jack Kale with a walk-off single in the 9th and @LETU_Baseball is headed to the ASC Championship round after a 7-6 win over Hardin-Simmons! #LeTourneauBuilt #d3baseball pic.twitter.com/orXB97aWuS

— LeTourneau YellowJackets (@LETUAthletics) May 4, 2025

LeTourneau will play in the ASC Tournament championship round for the first time since 2019.

Hardin-Simmons (13-26) scored two runs in the first inning to grab a 2-0 lead. Jones got the YellowJackets on the board in the home-half of the inning with a solo home run. The homer was Jones' 21st of the season -- breaking his own program single-season record -- and was the 62nd of his career. In the game against ETBU, Jones became the all-time hits leader in program history with a double in the first inning. He went 2-for-2 in the Hardin-Simmons win with three intentional walks.

The Cowboys grabbed a 5-1 lead with three runs in the second, but LeTourneau had an answer.

Austin Wiederhold hit a game-tying grand slam in the bottom of the fourth to knot the score at 5-5. Wiederhold -- who had not homered all season before the tournament -- notched his second grand slam of the tournament and was 2-for-5 in the win.

Hardin-Simmons regained the lead briefly in the seventh, but Clayton Holt worked out of the jam to keep the YellowJackets within one (6-5).

In the eighth, Hayden Norris led off with a single. With two outs, Norris took off from first on the 2-2 pitch to Baker and was able to score as Baker singled to shallow center field just in front of a diving attempt from the Cowboys outfield to tie the game.

Holt (5-1) then worked out of a first and second two-out situation in the ninth to keep the score tied. The right-hander went 2.1 innings with three strikeouts while not allowing a hit or a run to notch his fifth win of the year.

That set the stage for the ninth. With Jones leading off, Hardin-Simmons elected to intentionally walk the slugger. That move ultimately backfired as Land drew a walk to put Jones in scoring position and setup Kale's game-winner.

Dalton Pickett went 6.2 innings in his start as he kept LeTourneau in the game with four straight scoreless innings after two tough opening frames. Pickett threw 104 pitches in the game.

Baker, Wiederhold, and Jones all had two hits apiece as LeTourneau tallied eight in the win.

Quincy McGraw went 3-for-6 to lead Hardin-Simmons. Alex Carte (4-8) got the loss in relief after going 0.2 innings after Jack Kimsey threw 121 pitches across 7.2 innings in his start.

UP NEXT

LeTourneau faces ETBU on Sunday at 1 p.m. in the ASC Tournament championship round.

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