2023 ASC Championship Central
MARSHALL, Texas – East Texas Baptist won twice to advance to the 2023 American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament on its own field. The Tigers put together strong offensive showings with a 9-4 win over LeTourneau and 21-2 over UT Dallas.
The Tigers will face the team that sent them to the elimination bracket on Friday, Hardin-Simmons. The Cowboys opened day three of the tournament with a 7-6 win over UTD. It was a back-and-forth game that saw a three-run eighth lift HSU past and reach the championship round for the first time since 2016.
The teams will tangle at 1 p.m. on Sunday at ETBU. The Cowboys (22-21) are 3-0 in the tournament and just require one more win, while the Tigers (33-11) can force one more game with a win and the winner of that will be the champion. That would start 30 minutes after the first game.
GAME 7: Hardin-Simmons 7, UT Dallas 6
It appeared to be the Comets (25-18) that were going to continue on their scoring swing thanks to a three-run first. Luke Finn sent a home run in that inning for two runs and open a three-run deficit. Those didn’t affect the Cowboys (22-21), as they rallied down three on two occasions in the game an knotted the score on a Jeremy Colon play. Kirkbride drove in the game-winning run and went 3-for-5 in the game.
After six innings from Brandon Bane, Wyatt Tumlinson tossed the last three innings in a winning effort to the tune of two strikeouts, a hit allowed, and one walk.
UT Dallas was led by Robert Hines and Grayson Coltharp with two-hit games each. The loss prevents the Comets from extending their baseball title streak.
GAME 8: East Texas Baptist 9, LeTourneau 5
LeTourneau grabbed an early lead on a sacrifice fly out. ETBU would get the run back in the second inning and then scored two in the third inning. Dane Jones for the YellowJackets belted a two-run homer to left that made it 4-3 in the fourth. The next two innings were the turning point, as ETBU had a five-run fifth and added two runs to eliminate the YellowJackets who had avoided elimination on Thursday.
Jones finished 2-for-3 with a two-RBI hit, home run, and double.
The Tigers powered up with three homers and doubles with a quartet having two RBI: Ben Lea, Jase Jones, and Jake Miller. Carson Wilson added three runs to go with his 2-for-3. Peyton Miller and Robert Croft combined for eight strikeouts with just over four innings from both.
GAME 9: East Texas Baptist 21, UT Dallas 2 (7)
East Texas Baptist pushed seven runs across in the bottom of the first inning. Six runs came through in the third inning to open a 14-0 lead for the home team. Nine different players for the Tigers recorded an RBI. Miller was the star at the plate with a perfect 3-for-3 with a game-high four RBI. Wagner drove in a team-high four runs, while Jones went 3-for-4 with three runs driven in.
Cole Godkin tossed five innings and worked around a run on four hits with two walks and strikeouts.
The Comets conclude the season with a 25-19 record and end tournament run at a repeat after having the previous two titles.