2025 Championship Central
MARSHALL, Texas – Three games were completed in the first day of the 2025 American Southwest Conference Softball Championship on the campus of East Texas Baptist. No. 4 Seed LeTourneau edged No. 5 Seed Howard Payne in the opening contest. No. 2 Seed Hardin-Simmons moved past No. 3 Seed Mary Hardin-Baylor. No. 1 East Texas Baptist closed the night with a win over No. 4 LeTourneau.
Mary Hardin-Baylor will play LeTourneau on Friday at 1:00 p.m. in an elimination game, while Hardin-Simmons and East Texas Baptist compete at 3:30 p.m. The third game of the day and sixth overall will be at 6:00 p.m. against the winner of Game 4 and the loser of Game 5 and will be an elimination contest.
LETU 8, HPU 0 | Box Score
LeTourneau opened scoring early with a three-run first inning. The YellowJackets extended the gap to six in the fourth inning before completely the run-rule with two runs in the fifth.
Scoring Summary:
1
st | Maddie Flanery scores on a wild pitch. [LETU 1, HPU 0]
1
st | Leighton Landreth homered; Kylie Grisham scores. [LETU 3, HPU 0]
4
th | Maddie Flanery doubled to center field to score Lilly Longoria. [LETU 4, HPU 0]
4
th | Jaci Taylor grounded out; Jenna Carter scores on the throw. [LETU 5, HPU 0]
4
th | Kylie Grishman doubled to left center and scored Maddie Flannery. [LETU 6, HPU 0]
5
th | Jenna Carter singled to score Maddi Smith. [LETU 7, HPU 0]
5
th | Jaci Taylor singled down the left field line; Lilly Longoria scored. [LETU 8, HPU 0]
Pitching Decision:
Laney Taylor earned the win for LeTourneau, pitching 5.0 shutout innings with five hits and two strikeouts. Destiny Sanchez took the loss for Howard Payne, throwing 0.2 innings with three runs on three hits.
Stat Leaders:
Maddie Flanery led LeTourneau with three hits. Leighton Landreth and Jaci Taylor led with two RBI each. Elise Munoz and Ashley Blaylock led Howard Payne with two hits each.
HSU 5, UMHB 2 | Box Score
UMHB opened the contest with a home run to go up one, but Hardin-Simmons quickly tied it in the bottom of the inning with a sacrifice flyout. The contest continued scoreless until Hardin-Simmons had an explosive sixth inning adding four runs for a 5-1 lead. UMHB added one more in the final frame but could not overcome the deficit.
Scoring Summary:
1
st | Bailey Frenzel homered. [UMHB 1, HSU 0]
1
st | Emily Jacobs hit a sacrifice flyout to score Haley Henson. [UMHB 1, HSU 1]
6
th | Ella Salinas singled down the right field line to score Kristen McMillan. [HSU 2, UMHB 1]
6
th | Lindsey Ratcliffe hit a three-run homer; Ella Salinas and Emily Jacobs scored. [HSU 5, UMHB 1]
7
th | Ryleigh Mills singled to left center to score Tori Skinner. [HSU 5, UMHB 2]
Pitching Decision:
Gabby Montanez earned the win for Hardin-Simmons, pitching 6.2 innings with two runs on six hits with a pair of strikeouts. Akysia Grogan earned the save, earning the final out with runners on base. Eileigh Whyte took the loss for the Cru, pitching 5.2 innings with five runs on seven hits and two strikeouts.
Stat Leaders:
Ella Salinas and Lindsey Ratcliffe led the Cowgirls with two hits each while Ratcliffe added three RBI. Lindsey Polleschultz led the Cru with two hits in the contest.
ETBU 10, LETU 5 | Box Score
LeTourneau took the first lead of the contest, going up 4-0 after the top of the third inning. East Texas Baptist cut the gap to three in the bottom half of the frame. After one more scoreless inning, the Tigers offense came alive, scoring seven runs to claim a 9-5 lead in the fifth inning. ETBU added one more run in the sixth to seal the 10-5 win.
Scoring Summary:
3
rd | Jaci Taylor walked; Lilly Longoria scores. [LETU 1, ETBU 0]
3
rd | Leighton Landreth singled down the right field line to score Jaci Taylor and Maddie Flanery. [LETU 3, ETBU 0]
3
rd | Kylie Grisham stole home. [LETU 4, ETBU 0]
3
rd | Payton Bauer reached on a throwing error. Leighton Landreth scored on the play. [LETU 5, ETBU 0]
3
rd | Tristen Maddox reached on an error; Mallory Pyle scored on the play. [LETU 5, ETBU 1]
3
rd | Izabella Morales hit a sacrifice fly to left field and scored Mary Frances Ellis. [LETU 5, ETBU 2]
5
th | Tauryn Cummings doubles down the left field line and scores Emma Bell. [LETU 5, ETBU 3]
5
th | Katelynn Jones singled to right field scoring Maddie Melton. [LETU 5, ETBU 4]
5
th | Mary Frances Ellis singled to center field to score Ava Rodriguez. [LETU 5, ETBU 5]
5
th | Tristen Maddox singles to center field to score Mallory Pyle and Katelynn Jones. [ETBU 7, LETU 5]
5
th | Izabella Morales doubled down the left field line to score Tristen Maddox and Mary Frances Ellis. [ETBU 9, LETU 5]
6
th | Katelynn Jones scored on a wild pitch. [ETBU 10, LETU 5]
Pitching Decision:
Hannah Benavides earned the win for the Tigers, pitching 4.2 innings with no runs allowed on one hit with eight strikeouts. Kirsten Ferguson took the loss for the YellowJackets with six earned runs on nine hits.
Stat Leader:
Emma Bell led ETBU with three hits while Tauryn Cummings and Katelynn Jones each added two. Izabella Morales led with three RBI for the Tigers. LeTourneau had five athletes each record a hit.