AUSTIN, Texas - Overcoming a rain delay and a late Hardin-Simmons rally, the East Texas Baptist University baseball team secured a 4-2 win in the first round of the American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament. ETBU is now 29-12 on the year and will play the winner of Concordia-Texas/Sul Ross State on Friday.
 
Dylan Sumpter, Landen Barns, Brady Faulkner (RBI) and Ford Spigener (2 RBI) each had two hits in the game. Derrick Findley was the victor on the mound with seven innings of one run, three-hit ball with three strikeouts. Alek Arellano (1.0 IP one run, one hit, one strikeout) and Chad Boudreaux (1.0 inning, one strikeout) would help hold on to the lead.
 
Both pitchers started out strong with three scoreless innings each. While Findley went three innings without allowing a hit, ETBU had early chances to score but came up empty in each of the three innings. The fourth inning had both teams score a run as Faulkner drove in Barns on a single to tie the game at one.
 
In the fifth inning, Casey Combs reached on a fielder's choice that scored Zachary McAdams to bring ETBU up 2-1. One inning later, Spigener delivered a big two-RBI triple to extend the lead to 4-1. Two outs into the seventh inning, rain and lightning intervened delaying the game.
 
When play resumed, ETBU was unable to score in their final two innings of bat while HSU scored one to trail 4-2 entering the ninth. The Cowboys' tying run came to bat with two outs only to fly out to center for ETBU to win the first round.
 
ETBU enters the winner's bracket and will wait for the winner of Concordia University (TX) and Sul Ross State University at 3:00 PM tomorrow.