2023 ASC Championship Central
BELTON, Texas – Day two of the 2023 American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament was completed, as four more contests got played and three teams advanced to Saturday.
LeTourneau started the excitement with a late-game rally that resulted in a walk-off victory. Mary Hardin-Baylor picked up two necessary wins to keep its season alive on its home field, as it combined for 14 runs. East Texas Baptist remains the lone unbeaten team with a 2-0 record and producing the tournament’s first shutout at the time.
The Tigers advance to their fifth straight ASC Championship game. McMurry was defeated for the first time and will play UMHB in an elimination game prior to the championship game on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. McMurry will be the home team after coaches flipped a coin for determination.
GAME 1: LeTourneau 6, Hardin-Simmons 5
LeTourneau (28-15) got the scoring started with a run in the bottom of the first inning. Alexa Neilon singled a run to plate Kylie Grisham. Hardin-Simmons would break through with its first lead of the tournament with a three-run third inning. Ella Salinas smacked a two-RBI hit to score Haley Henson and Ashley Easle.
After the YellowJackets got a run back on a deep double to center field by Murphy Williams, the Cowgirls (26-15) pushed out with two runs in the fourth. Easle tripled for an RBI and Henson scored her on a double.
LeTourneau mustered a two-out rally in the sixth inning with three runs coming to knot the score. Hunter Hadley had a huge hit with a double to score two runs. A single placed runners on the corners and Grisham had a hard liner deflect off the third base glove and the run tied the game.
A leadoff double by Kenna Hendry got her into scoring position and a throwing error on the play moved her to third. Two batters later, Callie Poore singled down right field toward the corner and lifted the YellowJackets.
Grisham had the only multi-hit game for the home team and Hendry scored two runs. Cece Pace earned the win with 3.2 innings of relief. She yielded no runs on two hits and struck out three.
Hardin-Simmons was led by Henson with a 3-for-4, a run scored and RBI. Easley added a 2-for-3 with two runs and RBI. Haven Williams logged 5.1 innings out of the bullpen.
GAME 2: Mary Hardin-Baylor 6, UT Dallas 1
Mary Hardin-Baylor had a trio of two-run innings to inch out to a solid advantage on the Comets. UMHB (30-11) broke through with a pair of runs in the first inning thanks to aggressive baserunning that had Lexi Harris and Lindsey Polleschultz come home on a successful double steal and advance after a caught stealing.
The Cru were able to tally three stolen bases, three doubles, and a triple. Bailey Eggleston drove in the first run in the third with the team’s triple. She came in to score on the next batter, Elissa Elliott, reaching on an infield error. UMHB had two more runs in the fourth extend the lead to 6-0.
UT Dallas (24-18) tallied a run in the sixth inning on a double by Addison Caddell to score Riley Westmoreland.
Mary Hardin-Baylor had three players register multi-hit games with Harris, Eggleston, and Taylor Holman. Harris scored twice and had an RBI in the leadoff spot. Eggleston had a run and RBI to go with her pair of knocks. Grason Long started in the circle and allowed a run on three hits. She did not record a walk and fanned five.
GAME 3: East Texas Baptist 4, McMurry 0
East Texas Baptist logged a complete-game, shutout led by starting pitcher Hannah Kelley. The Tigers offense broke through in the third and fourth innings, with Courtney White responsible for all four runs-batted-in.
Scoreless through two and a half frames, Mary Francis doubled to leadoff. An out later, White doubled to center field and got ETBU (36-5) ahead. The second baseman for the Tigers provided breathing room in the fourth inning when she cleared the bases on a single to propel her team up 4-0.
That was plenty for Kelley, who was perfect through four innings. In the fifth with one out, Miranda Soileau doubled to left center to break McMurry (27-13) into the hit column. Kelley navigated that runner in scoring position and would go onto finish the shutout with two hits and no walks. She faced 24 batters and had four strikeouts.
White was 3-for-3 at the plate and Corley Carpenter added a perfect game at the dish going 2-for-2 and a walk. Mary Francis Ellis had the other two-hit performance and scored twice.
The War Hawks fought to keep the game close, as Jenna Lewis threw a complete game with six innings.
GAME 4: Mary Hardin-Baylor 8, LeTourneau 0 (5 inn.)
The Cru got the first trip to bat due to being the visitors on a coin flip, and they erupted with four runs to grab the early advantage. They applied pressure on the bases with two stolen bases and an error helped break into a 2-0 edge. Elliott posted the big hit with a two-RBI double to make it 4-0.
UMHB (31-11) broke the game open with a three-run home run by Holman. It was the only one in the tournament games today. Her blast had the Cru up and another run in the fifth put the run-rule into effect after the YellowJackets (28-16) were held scoreless.
LeTourneau mustered three hits in the game and had a two in the third with two runners in scoring position. Mickenzie Murry doubled in that frame, but no further advancement occurred. Laney Taylor did have a hit and threw four innings.
Mary Hardin-Baylor was led by Eggleston and Elliott with two-hit games each. Grason Long pitched three innings for her second win on the day and to give her 16 innings thrown in the tournament. Kami Flores tossed the final two and allowed just one hit and had a strikeout.