MARSHALL, Texas – Picking up another series victory in the American Southwest Conference, the East Texas Baptist University baseball team will begin their eleven-game home stretch with five games this week. ETBU will host Hendrix College in a two game series (Tue./Wed.) and then face Belhaven University over the weekend in a three-game American Southwest Conference series.
Last weekend brought ETBU their third straight series victory as they took two out of three from the Hardin-Simmons University Cowboys. Starting on Friday night, the series begun with a 14-3 victory. Five players would have two hits, including
Casey Combs (two RBI),
Landen Barns (three RBI),
Brady Faulkner (four RBI), and
Seth Mikeska (three RBI, HR).
Derrick Findley would pitch his first complete game, nine-inning victory in his career allowing three runs on six hits while striking out five.
ETBU would split their doubleheader against HSU the next day as they lost the first game 5-4 before rebounding to take a 4-2 win in the second game. Combs would finish with two homers on the day and four RBI while Barns also homered in the first game to go with three hits.
Alan Underwood earned his second win of the season with six innings of work allowing one run on five hits with four strikeouts.
Chad Boudreaux picked up his second save going three innings allowing just one run.
The Tigers are 12-8 overall and 5-4 in the ASC. Barns remains ETBU's leader in batting average (.429) and hits (33) while Combs holds firm to 21 RBI. Mikeska is one homer off from his previous season's total of seven. Findley has won his last five starts allowing 12 runs on 28 hits while tying with
John Marrs with 18 strikeouts.
After an early struggle, the Tigers have managed to win seven of their last ten games. Head coach
Jared Hood credits the character and maturity of the team for the recent stretch. "All around, we're playing pretty good baseball right now," said Coach Hood. "It's still not our best, but I'm seeing a lot of good things from this team. That includes a lot of things from our young guys and other guys stepping up. You're seeing a lot of leadership starting to come out in the seniors. Things are really starting to roll now."
This week will bring ETBU a midweek, two-game series on Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon against Hendrix. The Warriors enter this week at 17-4 following a sweep of Grinnell College. Jorge Leon has emerged as the top contributor with a .455 batting average and 19 RBI on 35 hits. On the mound, Andrei Stoyanow has an ERA of 1.44 to go with three wins having allowed five runs on 17 hits. Taylor Barker (0.75 ERA) as seven of the team's eight saves amongst the pitching staff.
ASC play will resume this weekend as ETBU welcomes the Blazers of Belhaven University. ETBU managed two wins in their previous three-game series against BU last season in Jackson, Miss. At 7-13 overall and 1-8 in the conference, BU recently lost all three games in their series against Louisiana College. Justin Milam leads with 24 hits and a .333 batting average while Trip Benson has a team-high 13 RBI. David Hall has three wins on the mound with 20 runs allowed on 31 hits to counter 38 strikeouts.
Tuesday night's game will start at 7:00 PM while Wednesday will have the first pitch at 1:00 PM. Then it will be a 7:00 PM start on Friday night while Saturday's two games are at 1:00 PM and 4:00 PM. All games will take place at Woods Field.
