2023 ASC Baseball Championship Central
MARSHALL, Texas – Day one of the 2023 American Southwest Conference Championships was in full swing on Thursday (May 4) at East Texas Baptist. The No. 3 seed UT Dallas scored a run every inning to run-rule No. 6 seed LeTourneau, 11-1. The Comets (23-18) advance to Friday to face No. 2 seed Concordia Texas at 11 a.m.
In the second game of the day, No. 4 seed Hardin-Simmons got a walk-off single by Luke Kirkbride to lift his team over No. 5 seed Sul Ross State, 3-2. The Cowboys (20-21) advance to face host and top-seeded East Texas Baptist on Friday following the first game of the day.
The finale was a quick turnaround for Sul Ross State (17-22), who exploded for five runs in the opening inning. The YellowJackets got their bats going with nine straight runs and would eventually get to a 17-9 victory in the first elimination game of the tournament. LeTourneau (20-22) advances to play the winner of game six in the tournament on Saturday (May 6) at 2 p.m. in what will be another elimination game.
GAME 1: UT Dallas 11, LeTourneau 1 (7)
UT Dallas got on the board in the first inning with a double to left center by Luke Finn to score Robert Hines. UTD put a four-spot in the next inning, with Jaeger Self crushing a grand slam over the left center field wall on a full count to highlight the frame. The Comets plated three more runs in the third and added a run in each of their last three at bats to secure the 10-run rule after seven innings in tournament play.
The Yellow Jackets avoided the shutout with a run in the sixth inning on an RBI groundout by Lane Williams. Cameron Pfafman and Andrew Klingenstein head had 2-for-3 games at the plate.
UT Dallas collected seven hits with Finn going a perfect 2-for-2 with a pair of runs driven in and runs scored. He also had two walks, which was part of 10 by the Comets as a unit. Ryan Vera pitched a complete game and allowed no earned runs on five hits to go with four strikeouts.
GAME 2: Hardin-Simmons 3, Sul Ross St. 2
Hardin-Simmons grabbed a 2-0 advantage by scoring a run in the second and fourth innings. Gannon Azios cracked a home run to left center to start the scoring and Karson Leatherwood had an infield single.
Sul Ross State leveled the score with a two-run fifth inning. Matthew Wheeler and Orlando Moreno registered back-to-back singles to make it a new ballgame.
That score remained until Kirkbride had the two-out, game-winning knock that just stayed fair down the left field line. Jett Forrest scored after leading off the inning with a single to left.
The Cowboys totaled a 10-9 advantage on hits but did commit a pair of errors. Kirkbride, Leatherwood, Sam Buchkowski, and Jeremy Colon had multi-hit games with two each. Caidon Livingston went 7.1 innings in the start. Jaydon Stephens earned the win after not allowing a run or hit for 1.2 innings. He did work around two walks.
The Lobos tallied nine singles, with Estevan Ortiz the lone player with more than a knock, going 2-for-3. Tye Lindsey and Wheeler scored a run each. Chris Ibanez and Cade Watson each went at least four innings for Sul Ross St. Watson had five strikeouts and no walks through 4.2 innings.
GAME 3: LeTourneau 17, Sul Ross St. 9
The Lobos struck for five runs in the bottom of the first inning thanks to six hits that included a Lee Kubosh two-run homer. The YellowJackets got two runs back on a two-run shot from Lane Williams in the second inning. That rally continued with a huge five-run third inning to give the YellowJackets their first lead of the tournament. Dane Jones started the inning with a two-run homer and Klingenst doubled in to tie things. LeTourneau broke the tie a few batters later, scoring a run on separate plays.
In the fourth inning, the YellowJackets added two more runs to make it 9-5. Sul Ross State got a run back in the home half to keep it a three-run game. After two scoreless innings settled things down, LeTourneau got four runs to start pulling away. The Lobos answered with half the runs, but the No. 6 seed survived the elimination game.
Jones headlined the offense with a 4-for-5, seven RBI, and four runs. He landed a pair of homers, with one as an inside-the-park grand slam. Ethan Wood and Lane Williams had multiple RBI, as seven YellowJackets drove in at least a run. LeTourneau combined for 17 hits and all seven players with a knock had multi-hit output.
The Lobos tallied 10 hits with Lindsey leading the group with a pair of hits, a double, and team-leading three RBI. Primo Vasquez and Alvaro Hernandez added multi-hit games, while the top four in the lineup combined for six runs scored.