LeTourneau University – Sports

 

MEN’S GOLF

AUSTIN, Texas – Led by sophomore Cory Gillespie who carded the low round of the tournament, the LeTourneau University men’s golf team moved up one spot on the final day of the 2018 American Southwest Conference Championships to finish fifth overall at Avery Ranch Golf Club in Austin, Texas on Tuesday, May 1.

Gillespie would earn All-Tournament Team honors while senior Mason Terry was named All-ASC for the second-straight season by earning All-ASC Second Team distinction.

As a team, LETU shot their best score of the tournament by turning in a round of 303 into a three-round total of 925. Texas-Tyler would end up shooting the lowest series of any team on Tuesday to claim the team title with a score of 871 followed by Concordia University Texas (875), Texas-Dallas (892), and Hardin-Simmons University (892) rounding out the top-four.

It would take eight birdies to go along with one bogey and one double-bogey for Gillespie to come home in third place overall by shooting a final-day 67 to turn in a 54-hole performance of one-over 217 as only two players in the field managed to shoot even-par or better. Terry would wind up tied for 18th in his final collegiate golf meet after a round of 80 to finish with a score of 230 while Daniel Kay moved up eight spots in the individual standings with a final round 75 to finish tied for 26th (239). Chris Clarkand Dustin Dingler would be the other YellowJacket representatives at the 2018 Championship, with both tying for 29th with two-day totals of 244.

 

MEN’S GOLF

AUSTIN, Texas – With 36 holes of the two-day, 54-hole American Southwest Conference Championship meet complete, the LeTourneau University men’s golf team sits in sixth place of eight teams with a team score of 622 at the Avery Ranch Golf Club in Austin, Texas on Monday, April 30.

LETU’s team score came from a first-round score of 315 which would be followed up by a second-round total of 307. Texas-Tyler leads the overall team race with a first-day total of 583 followed by Concordia Texas with a 587 and Texas-Dallas with a 596. Hardin-Simmons sits in fourth with a 599 and defending ASC Champion Mary Hardin-Baylor is fifth with a 619 followed by the YellowJackets. Trailing LeTourneau in seventh is Howard Payne with a 631 and Louisiana College with a total of 656.

“The conditions that we had to play through this morning were a bit tougher than anticipated, and we did not adjust quickly enough to post a score that we are more than capable of in our first round,” said head golf coach Felix Moesmang in a post-round interview. “With the way things are setting up tomorrow morning, we should be able to post a low score and make a move up the team leaderboard.”

Among LETU’s scores, senior Mason Terry and sophomore Cory Gillespie both tied for 10th overall after shooting rounds of 76-74 for a total of 150. Both Terry and Gillespie carded five birdies on the day over their two rounds, with seven of the ten birdies coming on the back-nine of the 7,023-yard course.

Also posting scores for LeTourneau was sophomore Dustin Dingler who is tied for 28th with a 160 while seniors Chris Clark (34th, 163) and Daniel Kay (35th, 164) rounded out the five-man lineup for the YellowJackets.

An 8 a.m. shotgun start will get Tuesday’s final round action underway for the LeTourneau, with 18 holes of golf to determine this year’s automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Men’s Golf Championships.

 

SOFTBALL

LONGVIEW, Texas – Honoring four seniors who played in their final games as collegiate athletes, the LeTourneau University softball team fell to the number three-nationally ranked Texas Tyler Patriots by a score of 13-0 in six innings at the LETU Softball Field in Longview, Texas on Saturday, April 28.

With the defeat, LETU concludes their 2018 campaign with a 15-23 overall record and 11-19 mark in the American Southwest Conference while the Patriots moved to 35-1 overall and 26-1 in the ASC.

How It Happened:

A scoreless first inning gave way to a two-run top of the second for Texas-Tyler before adding on single runs in the top of the third and fourth innings.

The four-run lead for UTT would be pushed up to seven in the top of the fifth inning as a two-run home run and RBI single with two outs.
The best offensive opportunity of the day for the YellowJackets came in the bottom of the fifth when LeTourneau put runners on first and second but would be unable to capitalize as the Patriots managed to find their way out of the jam.
Texas-Tyler then put the game out of reach with a six-run sixth inning, taking advantage of five walks to bring load the bases and bring home the first two runs of the inning and go up 13-0.
Key Stats:

Outside of the two hits in the bottom of the fifth, LETU would be limited to just one other in the game for three singles total while the Patriots managed to collect 15 hits in the game.
Freshman Jacie Gilbert added a stolen base for the YellowJackets, making the most of her time on base in the contest.
Three different players for the Patriots each drove in three runs, while also combining to collect four hits and score five additional runs.

 

WOMEN’S TENNIS

TYLER, Texas – Taking on the number two seed out of the American Southwest Conference West Division, the LeTourneau University could not overcome a 2-1 doubles deficit. Hardin-Simmons would claim a 5-3 victory over the YellowJackets at the Summers Tennis Center in the first round of the 2018 ASC Women’s Tennis Championships in Tyler, Texas on Thursday, April 26.

LETU sees their season come to an end with an 8-10 overall record while the Cowgirls will advance to take on host Texas-Tyler at 2:00 p.m. tomorrow afternoon in Tyler in the ASC Championship Semifinals.

How It Happened:

HSU picked up a win at number three doubles over Lauren Rockwell and Samantha Trevino by a score of 8-2 before outlasting the duo of Maddison Brackenreg and Terin Murray at number one doubles by a score of 8-5 to claim a lead after doubles action.

The YellowJackets would manage to salvage at least one point from the three doubles matches, earning an 8-6 win from Gracie Favela and Katy Hall at number two doubles.

Trailing by a score of 2-1, LeTourneau managed to tie the match at 2-2 with a 6-2, 6-1 win by Murray at number two singles but saw Hardin-Simmons reclaim the lead with a win at number four singles over Hall by scores of 6-2, 6-0.

Brackenreg then tied the match once again for LETU, picking up a 6-2, 6-2 victory at number one singles before seeing Favela fall 6-0, 6-4 at number three singles and Trevino drop a 6-2, 6-2 decision at number six singles.

With the five points needed to clinch the match already decided, the number five singles match featuring Rockwell would go unfinished.

 

MEN’S GOLF

LONGVIEW, Texas – The LeTourneau University men’s golf team will look to improve upon a seventh-place finish at the American Southwest Conference Championship Preview Meet earlier this month when they partake in the 2018 ASC Men’s Golf Championship at Avery Ranch Golf Club in Austin, Texas beginning Monday.

A total of eight teams will compete in the 54-hole meet over the two-days (April 30 – May 1), with 36 holes played on Monday before Tuesday’s final round consisting of 18 holes.

LETU’s lineup will feature three seniors along with a sophomore and freshman rounding out the five-man roster. Seniors Mason Terry and Daniel Kay will be making their fourth appearance at the ASC Championship meet while senior Chris Clark will look to make strides in his second appearance at the ASC Championship. Sophomore Cory Gillespie and freshman Dustin Dingler will round out the lineup with both making their first appearances at the ASC Championships.

Mary Hardin-Baylor wrapped up their third ASC in the title in four years and seventh conference crown in school history last year by setting an ASC-record team score of 844 while senior Mats Heien finished with a conference record 15-under-par for individual medalist honors. The American Southwest Conference also has three schools either ranked in the Golf Coaches Association of America Top-25 poll with Texas-Tyler ranked number six, Concordia Texas ranked seventh, and Mary Hardin-Baylor all receiving votes.

The winner of the tournament is the American Southwest Conference champion and receives the Conference automatic berth into the NCAA Division Men’s Golf Championship.

2018 American Southwest Conference Men’s Golf Championship
April 30-May 1, 2018
Austin, Texas | Avery Ranch Golf Club
Yards: 7,023 | Par: 72 | 54 holes (36-18)

Championship Teams
Concordia Texas
Hardin-Simmons
Howard Payne
LeTourneau
Louisiana College
Mary Hardin-Baylor
UT Dallas
UT Tyler

2018 ASC Men’s Golf Statistics
ASC Men’s Golf Champions

 

BASEBALL

LONGVIEW, Texas – With American Southwest Conference Tournament seeding at stake, the LeTourneau University baseball team saw visiting Texas-Tyler claim a pair of 9-2 victories to spoil the senior day at Conrad-Vernon Field in Longview, Texas on Saturday, April 28.

LETU will now enter next week’s ASC Tournament with a 21-16 record while falling to 13-11 overall in the ASC while the Patriots conclude the regular season with a 26-14 overall record and 14-9 clip in the conference.

Game One How It Happened:

What appeared to be a pitcher’s duel early on would be broken up in the top of the fourth inning as UTT managed to plate four runs on back-to-back home runs with a three-run blast breaking the scoreless deadlock.

Outside of the fourth inning, the game went back to how it appeared to start, with both the fifth and sixth innings going scoreless before a cluster of runs came across in the seventh.

Holding their 4-0 lead, Texas-Tyler added five runs on three hits in the top of the seventh while chasing YellowJacket starting pitcher Andrew Harlan out of the game to take a 9-0 lead and just three outs away from a win.

LeTourneau refused to go down without a fight, scoring Eli Birriel and Brandon Ramirez on a two-RBI double from Lee Hosie before seeing the next two batters retired to end the game.

Game One Key Stats:

The LETU offense was limited not only in the runs department but also the hits department throughout the game. The YellowJackets would have six hits.

Despite the six hits and one walk that LeTourneau recorded, LETU still stranded seven runners on base compared to four for the Patriots.

UT-Tyler rode starting pitcher Simon Sedillo to a complete game victory, allowing just two runs and striking out four on 81 pitches.
Game Two How It Happened:

There was no wait to the scoring in game two as Texas-Tyler put together three hits and three walks to go along with a hit batter to score four runs and open up a lead after half an inning of play.
Senior Gonzalo Sosa responded in the bottom of the first with a solo home run down the right-field line to cut into the Patriot lead, before seeing UTT come back with a single run on a sacrifice fly in the top of the second to reclaim a four-run lead.

Three more runs by the Patriots in the top of the fifth extended the Texas-Tyler lead to 8-1, with an additional being tacked on in the seventh as the YellowJackets could not find any offensive rhythm throughout the game.

With the game still sitting at a 9-1 deficit heading to the bottom of the ninth, Sosa tacked on his second homer of the game with a second blast over the right-field fence to account for both of LETU’s runs.

Game Two Key Stats:

Just as the score indicated in game one, LETU once again found themselves limited in the hits department by getting three singles to go along with the two home runs by Sosa.

Putting runners on base with other options also didn’t pan out in the game for the YellowJackets, with a total of four base-runners stranded in the game with one walk accounting for the other runner.
A host of pitchers saw action for LETU in the game, with Bryce Brueggemeyer (2.1 innings), Nate Hoelker (2.2 innings), Zach Nortch (1.1 innings), Haden Simmons (1.2 innings), and Sosa (1.0) all finding themselves in action on the mound.

What’s Next?

The most extended trip of the year to date is next in store for the LETU’s team. They make their fourth-ever appearance in the American Southwest Conference Tournament. LeTourneau will be the number six seed in the tournament, and play number three seeded Texas-Dallas at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, May 4, with the game being at Sul Ross State University in Alpine, TX. Sul Ross State and Hardin-Simmons will join the YellowJackets and Comets in the four-team double-elimination bracket, with the winner of the ASC “Red” bracket moving on to play the winner of the ASC “Blue” bracket the following weekend in a best two-of-three series. More information regarding the 2018 ASC Baseball Tournament Championship Tournament is at the 2018 ASC Baseball Tournament Central.

 

BASEBALL

LONGVIEW, Texas – Deadlocked at 5-5 after seven innings of play, the LeTourneau University baseball team used a three-run eighth inning to pull away from visiting Texas-Tyler University for an 8-5 win at Conrad-Vernon Field in Longview, Texas on Friday, April 27.

The victory moves LETU to 21-15 overall and 13-9 in the American Southwest Conference, guaranteeing a winning record in conference play for the first time since 2015. UT-Tyler is now 24-14 overall and 13-9 in the ASC with the loss.

How It Happened:

A two-out RBI double for the Patriots in the top of the first inning allowed for Texas-Tyler to take a 1-0 lead over the YellowJackets.
After putting runners on in both the first and third innings, LeTourneau would see double plays allow for UT-Tyler to face the minimum through three innings which allowed for the Patriots to hold their slim lead.

LETU finally broke through with a Will Bradshaw infield single as part as part of the first four YellowJacket batters of the fourth inning to safely reach base.

In all, LeTourneau managed to score three runs in the bottom of the fourth with Jacob Jones also collecting an RBI single and Bubba Valdez collecting an RBI on a groundout.

The Patriots managed to push across two runs in the top of the fifth inning and tie the game at 3-3, and then reclaimed the lead with a two-out RBI double in the top of the sixth.

Another infield single by the YellowJackets allowed for Jones to score and tie the game at 4-4, making for the final three innings of the contest to determine the outcome.

One run would be scored by both the Patriots and YellowJackets in the seventh inning, with each team taking advantage of one hit and an error to plate the run as senior Gonzalo Sosa tied the game for LETU on an infield single to score Noah Mahoney.

A one-two-three inning by Texas-Tyler allowed for LeTourneau to have a chance to re-take the lead in the bottom of the eighth where the YellowJackets managed to score three runs on three singles and three free passes to take their largest lead of the game.

UTT would not go down quietly in the ninth, loading the bases with no outs before seeing a foul out and back-to-back strikeouts preserve the win for LETU.

Key Stats:

All 10 of LeTourneau’s hits came as singles, with Sosa, Jones, and Valdez putting up two singles apiece.

A big reason for LETU holding the Texas-Tyler offense to just five runs would be 11 strikeouts by the Patriots, in addition to allowing eight hits.

Valdez also drove in a team-high two runs and picked up the win on the mound after coming on in relief and throwing one hitless inning while striking out the side.

Also making a move from his infield position to the mound would be Bradshaw, recording his fourth save of the year after throwing a scoreless ninth.

What’s Next?

UTT and LETU will continue their series tomorrow by playing a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader at Conrad-Vernon Field. Senior day festivities will take place in between games one and two with three seniors (Zach Nortch, Carson Dickey, and Gonzalo Sosa) all being honored for their contributions to the YellowJacket baseball team.

 

SOFTBALL

LONGVIEW, Texas – Taking on their second nationally-ranked opponent of the season, the LeTourneau University softball team would be unable to match the offensive firepower of number three Texas-Tyler in a 15-6 and 16-3 loss at the LETU Softball Field in Longview, Texas on Friday, April 27.

With one game remaining in the regular season, LETU is now 15-21 overall and 11-17 in the American Southwest Conference while the Patriots improved to 33-1 overall and 24-1 in the ASC.

Game One How It Happened:

UTT jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two and a half innings of play before the YellowJackets finally found their way onto the scoreboard, using a Bailey Woodard RBI single up the middle to score Ashlin Roach and Kelsi Coleman.

Texas-Tyler then added four additional runs in the top of the fourth to go up by a score of 9-2 but saw LETU come back with three runs of their own to get the lead back down to four at 9-5.

After staying within striking distance through four innings of play, the Patriots finally found a way to put the game out of reach by scoring three runs in both the fifth and sixth innings while only allowing a Coleman RBI double to LeTourneau as the game would end in the sixth inning.

Game One Key Stats:

LETU’s six runs came on six hits in the game, with Coleman and Roach both collecting extra-base hits.

UT-Tyler was led by a 16-hit burst, with Theresa Gonzales collecting four hits and two RBI.

In the circle for the YellowJackets, Amber Fillbrandt took the loss after lasting 2.2 innings and allowing seven runs on eight hits while striking out one.

Game Two How It Happened:

The offense would be harder to come by for the YellowJackets in the nightcap, with the Patriots scoring two runs in the top of the first and adding four runs in the top of the third to take a 6-0 lead before LETU managed to plate any runs.

Both of LeTourneau’s runs in the bottom of the third came on a Roach RBI double, cutting the lead to 6-2 which is where the score would stay through the fourth inning.

Texas-Tyler reclaimed a six-run lead in the top of the fifth, launching a two-run home run and added another run in the sixth to push the lead to seven but could not get to the eight-run plateau to try and end the game early.

After shutting down LETU in the bottom of the sixth, UTT added seven additional runs in the top of the seventh before conceding a run on Fillbrandt RBI double with two outs in the bottom of the seventh.

Game Two Key Stats:

No LeTourneau player had more than one hit in the game, with Fillbrandt, Coleman, Roach and Taylor MacKenzie each recording singles.

Despite the score, the YellowJackets utilized their speed on the basepaths, stealing four bases on five attempts.

Texas-Tyler kept their efficiency from game one and brought it over to game two, striking out twice while collecting 18 hits as a team.

What’s Next?

Senior day will match up these same two teams on Saturday, April 28 with first-pitch scheduled for 1:00 p.m. LeTourneau will bid farewell to four seniors honoring them before the game for playing in their final home game as collegiate athletes, with Kelsi Coleman, Bailey Woodard, Ashlin Roach, and Ashley Burdine.

 

TRACK AND FIELD

ABILENE, Texas – LeTourneau is looking to improve their marks enough in the next few weeks to become the first qualifiers in school history for the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships. LeTourneau University men’s track and field freshman pole vaulters Austin Parrish and Alex Hindman both cleared 4.80 meters at the Oliver Jackson Twilight Invitational held at Elmer Gray Stadium on the campus of Abilene Christian University on Thursday, April 26.

LETU did not record a team score in the meet, which was pushed back from Wednesday to Thursday to avoid inclement weather.

The marks of 4.80 meters (15 ft. – 9 in.) is a new personal record for Hindman, while Parrish fell shy of setting a new personal record. Parrish ended up finishing sixth while Hindman took 10th due to five athletes finishing with a mark of 4.80 meters and a jump off being needed to break ties.

As things currently stand, the mark is the 15th-best mark recorded by an NCAA Divison III Athlete during the outdoor season. Parrish has a top mark of 4.90 meters (16 ft. – 0.75 in.), which is the ninth-best mark in all of NCAA Division III this year.

Both Parrish and Hindman will get another chance to improve their mark next weekend when they head to West Texas to compete in the Texas Tech University Masked Rider Open on Saturday, May 5.

 

Matt Kinney

Sports Information Director