A diving tag by LeTourneau University senior pitcher Kirby Cantalamesssa following a pitch that ricocheted off the backstop preserved an 8-7 win for the YellowJackets over East Texas Baptist on Saturday afternoon.
With a 1-1 count, Cantalamessa had a pitch that hit off the backstop at Woods Field which was alertly grabbed by LeTourneau catcher Dillon Yates, who made the toss to Cantalamessa, who tagged Chris Scroggins to seal the win.
In the win, LeTourneau (16-2, 11-1 ASC) had 11 hits for its 10th double-digit attack on the season. Four-different players – Chris Bertram, Kyle Jacobs, Caleb Pritchett and Sean Sellers - had multiple hits in the win. Junior Justin Jenkins earned the win to improve to 5-0 with a five-inning effort, scattering seven hits and striking out four. Canatalmessa faced the final eight batters and pitched the final 1.1 innings for his fourth save of the season.
In the loss, East Texas Baptist (6-13, 3-9 ASC) had 15 hits and stranded 11 runners for the Tigers. Offensively, Jaxon Rader and Conner Combs each had four hits to lead ETBU.
LeTourneau scored a run in the second and fourth for a 2-0 advantage. The Tigers clawed back in the fourth with a solo home run by Phillip Windham. ETBU took its first lead of the series in the fifth when they scored twice for a 3-2 lead.
The first career home run – a two-run, line-drive shot by Kyle Jacobs in the sixth put LeTourneau ahead 4-3. The YellowJackets picked up its third run of the inning on a RBI single by junior Caleb Pritchett for a 5-3 lead.
LeTourneau added to its lead with two runs in the eighth inning for a 7-3 lead. The two runs came in on a RBI triple by Jacobs and Pritchett had his second RBI single of the afternoon. The Tigers scored a run in the bottom of the eighth to trim the LeTourneau lead to 7-4
With a three-run lead in the ninth, a two-out RBI single by graduate student Garrett Methvin put LeTourneau up by an 8-5 margin. In the ninth, the Tigers loaded the bases with one out against Cantalamessa. Rader cut the YellowJacket lead to one with a one-out, two-RBI single. Following a fielder's choice by Dicks, it set the stage for the game-ending play with lead-off hitter Matty Sullivan at the plate for ETBU.