The LeTourneau University baseball team punched its ticket to the championship game of the American Southwest Conference Baseball Tournament with an 8-2 win over No. 1 seed and host Concordia University on Friday in Austin.
Following a recipe of success with solid all-around play at the plate, defense and on the mound, the YellowJackets advance to Saturday's championship for the first time in program history. For the sixth-straight game, LeTourneau had double-digit hits with five different players having two hits. Defensively, the YellowJackets turned a double play and did not commit an error.
LeTourneau (31-12) junior starter Justin Jenkins went seven solid innings, allowing four hits, two runs – both earned and struck out three to raise his record to 8-3. In relief, senior Jon Riley shut the door with a pair of strikeouts over the last two innings to end the contest.
Concordia (29-13) was held to just five hits with designated hitter Garret Benyo accounting for two of the five hits. Starting pitcher Ragan Pope went 6.2 innings, allowing 10 hits and six runs – five earned in the loss to fall to 3-1.
After a scoreless first three innings, with the bases loaded and two out, LeTourneau sophomore catcher Dillon Yates emptied the bases with a three-RBI double. The YellowJackets added two more in the fifth for a 5-0 lead.
Concordia cut the LeTourneau lead to three, 5-2 on a RBI triple and a RBI single in the sixth. Then, Jenkins kept the Tornados from drawing any closer with a fly out and a strike out.
LeTourneau added insurance runs on a ground-rule RBI double by Garrett Methvin in the seventh and two more on three hits in the eighth for the final margin.
The opponent in the championship game has yet to be determined and will be played at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
Photos
(by Danny Kambel, LeTourneau University Sports Information Director)
Video (Interview with Ryan Garza and Bryce Griffin)