NCAA Division III Championship Central

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – East Texas Baptist baseball team matched a season-high in runs and answered an early 7-run deficit to edge No. 2 Salisbury, 21-7, on Sunday night (June 4) in an elimination game. The Tigers (42-14) scored in every inning except the first inning, to orchestrate the highest scoring offensive output by an American Southwest Conference team in the NCAA Division III Championship Round. It ranks second for most runs in a national tournament, only short to UT Dallas’ 32 in the Regional Round in 2022.
 
ETBU improves to 2-1 in the national tournament with both victories coming against Salisbury (36-8). The Tigers will play No. 3 Lynchburg for a scheduled 1:15 p.m. CT start time on Monday (June 5). Lynchburg won the previous meeting 8-3 on Saturday.
 
Six runs in the first inning gave the Sea Gulls the early advantage. A home run started the scoring and five walks that included four singles helped ignite the early edge for Salisbury. Another run in the second frame made it 7-0.
 
The Tigers’ bats got going with three runs on four hits in the home second inning. A run in the third inning closed the gap and then consecutive five-run innings propelled ETBU in front the rest of the game. ASC Player of the Year Ben Lea smacked the go-ahead grand slam in the fourth inning to push the Tigers up 9-7. He finished with five RBI, four runs, and was 3-for-4. Brett Wagner had a game-high four hits that included a homer. Nick Chavez clobbered a three-run shot in the eighth to match the most runs by ETBU in a game and improved his totals in RBI and runs to four in each category. Jase Jones had the other home run to give ETBU four. The Tigers etched 21 hits with seven for extra bases. Matthew Irwi tossed five innings for the win in relief and did not allow a run and struck out five.
 
East Texas Baptist Recap