LeTourneau University

 

 

 

The American Southwest Conference Tournament – Blue Bracket – All-Tournament Team on Sunday, named LeTourneau University’s senior Taylor Empkey to its roster. The senior catcher from Bedford, Texas wrapped up his LETU career, hitting .400 (2-for-5) with two RBI and three walks in the two games. Empkey and the YellowJackets season ended on Saturday in the double-elimination tournament with a loss to UT-Dallas, who advanced to the tournament finals.

BASEBALL

An eight-run second inning propelled No. 8 seed UT Dallas to a 14-2 win over the No. 5 seed LeTourneau in an elimination game at the 2016 ASC Baseball Tournament Blue Bracket on Saturday.

The Comets (22-19) sent 12 batters to the plate in the second inning. In the inning, UT Dallas picked up eight runs on five hits. One of the five hits was a two-RBI double by Jimmy Norris, who went 3-for-5 with three runs scored and four RBI.

The YellowJackets (15-22), who had taken two out of three during the final week of the regular season, were limited to six hits by a pair of UT Dallas pitchers – Brandon Lee and Cole Hanson. Junior Kyle Jacobs had three of the six hits for LeTourneau in the defeat. Lee picked up the win, allowing six hits and striking out five to improve to 5-3.

Eight of the nine starters for UT Dallas had a hit as Norris and Nick Marti led the Comets each with three hits. Brandon George also had three RBI to go along with two hits in the win.

Trailing 11-0 in the fourth inning, LeTourneau got on the scoreboard with a pair of runs. Sophomore Rayne Hobbs hit a solo home run to start the inning. Then, junior Jacob Simmons reached on a fielding error by the Comets. Back-to-back wild pitches by Lee moved Simmons to third, who came around to score on a ground out by freshman Lee Hosie.

UT Dallas got back on the scoreboard with two runs in the fifth and another in the seventh en route to the win.

With the win, the Comets will advance to a 7:00 p.m. elimination game against the loser of the UT-Tyler and Concordia game at 4:00 p.m. The loss ends the season for the YellowJackets.

BASEBALL

A three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh by Alex Bishop and an insurance run in the eighth by UT-Tyler spoiled a comeback by the LeTourneau University baseball team in its opening round game of the 2016 American Southwest Conference Baseball Tournament – Blue Bracket. The matchup was a rematch of the last two champions of the ASC Tournament.

The Patriots (26-15) tied the game in the sixth at 4, then a three-run blast by Bishop over the right-field wall put UT Tyler ahead 7-4. Bishop and the top five in the UT Tyler order accounted for nine of the 12 hits to support six different pitchers in the win. Bishop had five RBI and Collin Belcher, who closed out the seventh inning for the Patriots picked up the win to improve to 1-0.

LeTourneau (15-21) quickly found itself behind 3-0 in the first inning before scoring twice in the fifth and sixth inning to take a 4-3 lead. Sophomore Rayne Hobbs had three hits to lead an eight-hit attack for the YellowJackets, plus senior Taylor Empkey had a pair of RBI to go along with three walks. Freshman Andrew Harlan was the losing pitcher after allowing nine hits, seven runs (four earned) and striking out three in the loss to fall to 4-7.

A pair of errors by LeTourneau in the top of the first allowed UT Tyler to take an early 3-0 lead. LeTourneau capitalized on a pair of defensive miscues by UT Tyler in the fifth to cut the deficit to one, 3-2. In the inning, senior Dylan Wadyko reached on a fielding error. Then, he moved to second on an LETU sacrifice bunt. Next, senior Sean Sellers reached on a wild pitch on strike three, and Wadyko moved to third base to put runners on the corners for senior Taylor Empkey. A bloop single by Empkey plated Wadyko for the first LETU run; then a fielder’s choice by junior Kyle Jacobs brought Sellers home to make it a 3-2 contest.

LeTourneau took its first lead in the sixth inning with two runs on three hits for a 4-3 lead. In the inning, Empkey picked up his second RBI of the day on a bases loaded walk and Wadyko brought in junior Jacob Simmons, who had doubled earlier in the inning.

UT Tyler regained the lead with three runs on four hits including the three-run home run by Bishop in its half of the seventh. Earlier in the inning, LeTourneau hit into a double play that erased a threat. The Patriots’ added an insurance run with Bishop hitting an RBI single in the eighth inning. A final threat by the YellowJackets ended when they hit into their second double play of the day.

The other opening round tournament game played between UT-Dallas, No. 8 seed and Concordia, No. 1 seed Friday evening decides LeTourneau’s next opponent. The YellowJackets will play the loser of the two teams in an elimination game at 1:00 p.m. at Tornado Field.

Danny Kambel
LeTourneau University
Sports Information Director
www.letuathletics.com