LeTourneau University – Sports

 

LeTourneau Men’s Golf Fourth Heading Into ASC Championships Final Round.

KERRVILLE, Texas – Looking to keep pace with yesterday’s low team round of the day, the LeTourneau University men’s golf team would battler their way to a second-round score of 314. They sit in fourth-place following the conclusion of the second round of the 2019 American Southwest Conference Men’s Golf Championships held at Comanche Trace Country Club in Kerrville, Texas on Monday, April 29.

The round for LETU gives the YellowJackets a two-day total of 611 and five shots back of third-place Texas-Dallas, who would shoot the second-lowest round of the day with a score of 304 to sit with a score of 606 through 36 holes. Concordia Texas put together a play of 294 on Monday to lead the team race with a 592, 12 shots clear of second place McMurry University (604).

Movement across the player leaderboard saw freshman Landon Oney move up six spots following a round of one-over 73 to sit in sixth-place with a two-day total of 149 while Cory Gillespie carded a round of five-over 77 to sit in a three-way tie for eighth (151). A second-round score of 85 for Dalton Northcutt would give the Longview, Texas native a two-day total of 155 to sit in a tie for 17th while Wes Nolan (77-80-157) and Alex Koll (83-84-167) are 23rd and tied for 38th, respectively.

Final-round action will see LeTourneau tee things off at 8:40 a.m. as the YellowJackets will look to make a move into the top-three on the 6,988-yard, par-72 course. LETU’s last top-four finish came in 2016 and featured a three-day total score of 900.

 

 

Dalton Northcutt Leads LeTourneau Golf To Share of Day One Lead At ASC Championships.

KERRVILLE, Texas – Getting out to a quick start on the front nine and holding their own to close out their opening round, the LeTourneau University men’s golf team would shoot a first-round 297 to tie for the team lead at the 2019 American Southwest Conference Men’s Golf Championships held at Comanche Trace Golf Club in Kerrville, Texas on Sunday, April 28.

The team score of nine-over is tied with pre-meet favorite McMurry University who also posted a 297 on day one while Concordia Texas sits one shot back in third with a 298. Texas-Dallas is in fourth following an opening round 302 while Mary Hardin-Baylor (313), Hardin-Simmons (317), East Texas Baptist (317), Howard Payne (329) and Louisiana College (332) round out the nine-team field.

In the individual race on the 6,988-yard, par-72 course, freshman Dalton Northcutt leads the 45-player field after shooting a round of two-under 70 to finish as one of two players under par on Sunday. Northcutt kept things even par throughout the front nine with a birdie on the par-five fourth before a bogey on the sixth hole but would birdie the par-four 10th and par-four 15th to close out his round in red numbers.

Junior Cory Gillespie finds himself in a tie for sixth after 18 holes following a two-over 74 as the Durango, Colorado native would put together an even-par 36 on the front nine and two-over 38 on the back nine. Just outside the top-10 is Landon Oney in a tie for 12th with a round of 76 as the freshman would record three birdies. Wes Nolen sits one shot back of Oney in a tie for 16th following a series of 77 while Alex Koll is tied for 35th after a round of 83 in his first ASC Championship meet appearance.

Round two will get underway beginning at 8:00 a.m. on Monday, April 29 with LeTourneau taking part in the final set of tee times which will start at 9:20 a.m. Day two will feature 18 holes and will set things up for Tuesday’s final round to determine the 2019 ASC Champion.

 

 

LeTourneau Track Splits Week With Two Meets In Different States.

DES MOINES, Iowa – Pushing towards NCAA Division III national qualifying marks, the LeTourneau University men’s and women’s track and field teams would put in a split week by competing in the Abilene Christian University Oliver Jackson Twilight Meet in Abilene, Texas and the Drake Relays hosted on the campus of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.

LETU would get the week started on Thursday, April 25 by sending four student-athletes to the Oliver Jackson Twilight Meet as Kaylee Packer (pole vault) and Rebekah Stevenson (hammer throw) would land top-eight finishes on the women’s side while Javaughn Dantzler nailed a third-place finish (12.82 meters, 42 ft. – 0.75 in.) in the triple jump. Packer would land a sixth-place finish by clearing 3.10 meters (10 ft. – 2 in.) while Stevenson recorded a mark of 30.73 meters (100 ft. – 10 in.) to place eighth. Dantzler would also compete in the long jump and register a score of 6.69 meters (21 ft. – 11.50 in.) while Arvin Hrushka competed for marks of 36.48 meters (119 ft. – 8 in.) in the discus, 1.78 meters (5 ft. – 10 in.) in the high jump and 16.78 in the 110 meter hurdles.

Friday at the Drake Relays would see the 4×100 meter relay team consisting of Solomon Siniard, Collin Jones, Jaylon Williams, and Stanley Williams narrowly miss out on their school-record time by running a time of 43.17 before going on post a time of 1:30.42 in the 4×200 meter relay. Alex Hindman, Jack Miller, and Austin Parrish would all compete in the pole vault Saturday morning but were unable to record a mark in the event.

What’s Next?

LeTourneau is scheduled to send athletes to the Texas Tech University Last Chance Meet on Saturday, May 4 in Lubbock, Texas. The meet will serve as the kick off to the final month of the outdoor season for the YellowJackets.

 

 

Senior Day Split Clinches ASC Tournament Berth For LeTourneau Baseball.

LONGVIEW, Texas – Needing a win to secure a spot in next week’s American Southwest Conference Tournament, the LeTourneau University baseball team would pick up a 6-3 victory in game before falling in game two by a score of 19-7 to split a senior day doubleheader to Texas-Dallas at Conrad-Vernon Field in Longview, Texas on Saturday, April 27.

The split concludes the regular season for LETU at 21-19 overall and 10-11 in the ASC while the Comets move to 20-19 overall and 12-9 in conference play.

Game One:

Strong pitching and the long ball on offense would prove to the key to success for the YellowJackets in game one as LeTourneau starting pitcher Kolton Eberlan would toss a complete-game two-hitter while striking out four. A solo home run by Will Bradshaw in the bottom of the second would put LETU up 1-0 before the Comets would respond with a leadoff walk and pair of stolen bases to set up a sacrifice fly in the top of the fourth to tie things at one.

Two straight one-out singles put a pair on for senior Jacob Jones to send a three-run home run over the left-center field fence and allow the YellowJackets to reclaim the lead at 4-1. Bradshaw would tack on an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth for LeTourneau with an RBI single before coming around to score on a Kyle Guevara RBI single to put LETU in full control up 6-1. The no-hit bid by Eberlan would extend into the top of the seventh inning as UTD scored two runs on two hits and one error to try and get back in the game but could not come up with enough offense late.

Guevara would lead LeTourneau with perfect three-for-three performance to go along with one RBI while Bradshaw collected two hits, drove in two, and scored twice. LETU would strike out just twice in the game and would strand only three runners on eight hits.

Game Two:

Things would get away from the YellowJackets early as the Comets would come out swinging and score five runs on six hits in the top of the first inning to jump out to a 5-0 lead after one inning of play. Two runs on Cody Lee home run in the bottom of the second would get LeTourneau on the board and back into the game before the two teams would trade runners in the third inning to put the score at 6-3 going to the top of the fourth.

Texas-Dallas would add another run in the top of the fourth with a solo home run, but LETU would respond once again as Jayden Banks would drive in Lee on a two-out RBI single. The Comets would continue their offensive attack by adding one run in both the fifth and sixth innings to go up 9-4 and would break the game open for good with four runs on two hits and four walks in the top of the seventh.

Two more runs for the Comets in the eighth would threaten to end the game after eight innings due to an 11-run LeTourneau deficit, but the YellowJackets would battle and score three runs on four hits in the bottom of the eighth to keep the game going. The scoring wouldn’t be done however as Texas-Dallas put up four more runs on a pair of hits in the ninth to put the final score at 19-7 in the rubber match to allow the Comets a series win.

Stranded runners would prove to be a problem for both teams as the contest would feature 24 total runners left on base (14 for UTD, 10 for LETU) to go along with 30 total hits. LeTourneau pounded out 14 total hits but would only record three extra-base hits as Bryce Brueggemeyer and Lee would be the only two YellowJackets to go for extra-bases. In the final home game of his career, senior Brandon Ramirez would go three-for-five at the plate with one RBI and one run scored while Banks collected two hits in three at-bats.

What’s Next?

LeTourneau will make their second-consecutive appearance in the American Southwest Conference Baseball Tournament when they take on regular-season champion Howard Payne University in the opening round of the ASC Tournament Blue Bracket Tournament on Thursday, May 2nd. Official start time is still being determined, as the battle of the YellowJackets will be the fourth meeting of the season between the two squads. LETU and HPU met back on April 12 and 13 in Longview, with LeTourneau taking two games in extra-innings before falling in the series finale 5-4.

 

 

LeTourneau Baseball Downed By Texas-Dallas 10-3.

LONGVIEW, Texas – Opening up the final weekend of regular-season play, the LeTourneau University baseball team would see a 2-0 lead evaporate in the top of the third as part of a 10-3 setback to the University of Texas-Dallas at Conrad-Vernon Field in Longview, Texas on Friday, April 26.

LETU now sits at 20-18 overall and 9-10 overall while the Comets improve to 19-18 and 10-8 overall in the ASC.

The YellowJackets would open the scoring in the bottom of the first thanks in part to a pair of walks as Eli Birriel, and Bryce Brueggemeyer would both draw free passes before a Will Bradshaw RBI single put LETU up 1-0. A sacrifice fly by Noah Mahoney would drive in the second run of the game for LeTourneau to put things at a 2-0 lead for the YellowJackets after one inning of play as the score would remain a two-run lead through two innings.

Three-straight Texas-Dallas batters managed to reach base safely to start the third inning as the Comets would cut the LETU lead to 2-1 on a single and error before tying things at 2-2 on a sacrifice fly. Another LETU error allowed UTD to take their first lead of the game at 3-2 as the Comets would go on to add on one more run in the inning and double up LeTourneau 4-2 heading to the fourth.

More crooked numbers for Texas-Dallas in the top of the fourth saw the Comets add to their lead with two runs on three hits to go up 6-2. LeTourneau would be unable to get anything going on the offensive end and in the fourth but get back a run in the bottom of the fifth by taking advantage of two UTD errors to score Lee Hosie and cut the lead to three.

Following a scoreless sixth and seventh inning, Texas-Dallas would add on a pair of insurance runs in the eighth by stringing together two hits, and one LETU error go up 8-3 and in full control just six outs away from a series-opening victory. LeTourneau would threaten in the eighth before stranding a runner, and then see the Comets put two more runs on the board in the ninth as the seven-run margin would prove to be too much to overcome late in the game.

LeTourneau would muster just six hits in the ball game to go along with three walks as the YellowJackets stranded seven runners in the contest. Bradshaw and Hosie would lead LETU with two hits each, with the defensive side of things allowing five of the 10 runs to come across as unearned. Jared Schurig and Ryder Lognion would each throw four innings on the mound while Kolbey Sharpe tossed one inning with the trio combining for seven strikeouts on the night.

What’s Next?

Twelve seniors will play the final home games of their career tomorrow as the YellowJackets and Comets will conclude a three-game series with a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader at Conrad-Vernon Field.

 

 

LeTourneau Men’s Tennis Moves Past UMHB 6-1, Advances To ASC Semifinals

LONGVIEW, Texas – Playing on their home court in their opening match of the 2019 American Southwest Conference Men’s Tennis Tournament, the LeTourneau University men’s tennis team would make grab a 3-0 lead after doubles and never look back in a 6-1 victory over the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor at the Davis Tennis Courts in Longview, Texas on Thursday, April 25.

LETU moves on to Friday’s ASC Semifinals with a record of 12-8 while the Crusaders see their 2019 campaign come to a close at 7-7 overall.

All three doubles matches would go the way of the YellowJackets by scores of 8-4, with LeTourneau having to shake off some early match jitters to pull away late in all three matches to go up 3-0 heading to singles play. Jimmie Henson and Christian Farris would keep their month-long winning streak alive at number one doubles while James Estrad and Zac Crowley-Kurth (number two doubles) along with Nathan Schmidt and Bobby Clark (number three doubles) all took care of business in their matches.

Playing more relaxed and just two points away from a match win, LETU would see Farris put the YellowJackets up 4-0 following a 6-2, 6-0 win at number two singles before UMHB would grab a point at number three singles 6-3, 6-2 over Crowley-Kurth.

The rest of the matches would all be closely contested as LeTourneau saw the match end with the number one singles and number six singles matches ending nearly simultaneously with Henson earning a 6-4, 6-3 win at number one singles and Clark winning 7-5, 6-4 over his opponent. Unfinished matches would see Schmidt leading his opponent at number four singles 6-0, 6-6 (1-3) while Paulo Cressio was trailing 6-2, 4-2 at the point of the match being clinched.

What’s Next?

LeTourneau will get to enjoy the comfort of playing at home once again on Friday, April 26 when the YellowJackets play host to the University of Texas-Dallas for the second time this season. UTD took a 7-2 decision in the LETU season opener on February 17 as the match will be the second of two ASC Men’s Tennis Tournament Semifinal matches on the campus of LeTourneau University on Friday. The first semifinal match of the day will feature upset winner Hardin-Simmons University taking on Concordia Texas at 10:30 a.m. with the advancing teams meeting up on Saturday morning.

Matt Kinney
Sports Information Director
Office: 903-233-3735
Cell: 903-736-7669
MattKinney@letu.edu
www.letuathletics.com