With the score tied at four, in the bottom of the fourth, the No. 2 seeded LeTourneau University baseball team scored the next 10 runs en route to a 14-4, eight-inning victory over No. 7 seeded Louisiana College on Wednesday in the first round of the 2014 ASC Baseball Championship Tournament at Tornado Field in Austin.
The offensive explosion gave support to senior starter Curt Copeland, who went seven solid innings, scattering eight hits and four runs – two earned and struck out four to raise his record to 7-2. Josh Gimre pitched a scoreless eighth in relief.
LeTourneau graduate student Garrett Methvin also drove in four in the win; plus, four-different players for LeTourneau had an extra-base hit.
With the score tied at 4, in the bottom of the 4th, three-straight hits including a RBI single by Sellers put the YellowJackets back ahead. A RBI ground out and a RBI single, later in the inning, stretched the lead to 7-4. LeTourneau added to its lead in the fifth with four runs on two hits to extend the lead to 11-4. The YellowJackets closed out the contest scoring once in the seventh and twice in the eighth for the 10-run victory.
The Wildcats (16-24) had eight hits among six-different players including a pair each from Bradley Robinson and Matt Scott. Starting pitcher Brand Bignar went 4 innings in the loss, giving up eight hits, seven runs – five earned and struck out one to fall to 4-3.
Next, LeTourneau will face No. 3 seeded the University of Texas at Dallas at 7 p.m. on Thursday. Earlier this season, the YellowJackets took two out of three from the Comets in Richardson.