2023 ASC Baseball Championship Central
MARSHALL, Texas – A wild second day of the 2023 American Southwest Conference Baseball Championship Tournament saw all winning scores in double figures. The top two seeds that had byes on Thursday were in trouble for a back-and-forth elimination game that saw the host team East Texas Baptist prevail.
UT Dallas remained hot with the bat as it has outscored its opponents 26-7 over the first two games as it looks to keep its recent tournament success going. Hardin-Simmons woke its bats up for a convincing win over the top-seeded Tigers.
UT Dallas will face Hardin-Simmons at 11 a.m. to start Saturday’s winner’s bracket. The winner moves on to have two chances to clinch the ASC title on Sunday. East Texas Baptist and LeTourneau meet in the first elimination game on Saturday at 2 p.m. The winner from that game plays a second time versus the loser of the earlier game for an opportunity to challenge the winner’s bracket remaining team on Sunday.
GAME 1: UT Dallas 15, Concordia Texas 6
Concordia Texas got the first run of the game to take an early lead. The Comets (25-17) claimed the lead in the top of the second on a pair of runs and were able to pull away with a six-run fifth and three-run sixth headlining another explosive day. The Tornados countered with four runs in the sixth and another in the seventh to make it a 12-6 deficit. UTD squashed any further rally with the final three runs.
UT Dallas Brayshon Savage posted a 2-for-3 game with a double and had a team-leading three RBI. Three different players scored three runs, including Savage. Jaeger Self, Robert Hines, Luke Finn, and Grayson Coltharp crushed one home run each. Ever hitter had a hit that led to a 19 total output.
Dylan Hugley went 5.2 innings in the start, while Kasey Klyng earned a save with the final 3.1 innings. The tandem struck out six with three between them.
Concordia Texas had five RBI combined between Matthew Armes and Mason Vasquez. Chris Morrow had a team-high three hits as part of a 3-for-5.
UTD has won four straight ASC Baseball tournament games at East Texas Baptist Woods Field dating back to last season’s championship. The Comets are the overall leader in the ASC Baseball Championship with a 52-34 record.
GAME 2: Hardin-Simmons 12, East Texas Baptist 4
Hardin-Simmons took an early 2-0 lead after a two-run homer by Colby Seltzer. Brett Wagner doubled home a run in the home part of the first to get the Tigers within a run. That was as close as it would be, as Luke Kirkbride launched a three-run shot in the top of the second to make it a 5-1 advantage. The Cowboys pushed the lead to 8-1 through six innings and then Kirkbride had his second homer of the game to left center. Back-to-back homers from ETBU’s Jordan Hara and Ben Lea cut the score to 9-3, but things were under control for the Cowboys (21-21) first 2-0 conference tournament start since 2016.
Kirkbride, Nick Ellington, and Seltzer formed a top three in the lineup that combined for 7-for-12 with eight RBI and six runs scored. Kirkbride shined with three hits, three runs, and four RBI. Sam Buchkowski drove in three runs. Grant Mitzelfelt earned the win with 7.2 innings completed and three runs allowed on eight hits. She fanned five.
East Texas Baptist totaled nine hits with two from Carson Wilson, Wagner, and Jase Jones. Wagner had multiple RBI as he and Jace Jones each ripped a double to go with the pair of homers.
GAME 3: East Texas Baptist 17, Concordia Texas 13
Concordia Texas jumped out to a 3-0 lead over the first two innings with Vasquez swatting a two-run home run in the first inning. ETBU (31-11) answered with a four-run third inning that featured a go-ahead two-run blast by Ben Lea. The Tigers stretched the advantage to 7-3 through five innings.
The Tornados shocked the home team again with a six-run sixth that was highlighted by a Shawn Huber double and Morrow go-ahead single. The Tigers recovered two runs in the bottom of the frame with Jacob Evangelista doubling in a run to make it 9-8 and then an error later knotted the contest. Each side traded a pair of runs for three turns to bat until a six-run ETBU eighth traded leads for good. Lea smacked his second home run of the game to tie things at 13, and then two, two-run hits propelled the Tigers up 17-13. The 30 combined runs in this game are the third highest in ASC Baseball Championship history.
A trio of Tiger hitters: Evangelista, Lea, and Jake Miller produced 3-hit games to go with four RBI each. 10 of ETBU’s 18 hits counted for extra bases, which included three doubles from Miller. Sayers Collins started and went 5.1 innings with seven strikeouts.
Concordia Texas (25-17) spread its offense out with 13 hits and five players tallying two RBI. Vasquez was a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs driven in and two runs scored to go with three walks. Zach Seigrist had the team’s other home run that was a go-ahead at the time in the seventh.