MARSHALL, Texas – Hosting the NCAA Division III Marshall, Texas Regional for the fourth year in a row, #6 East Texas Baptist University starts play on Thursday at Bell Park at Taylor Field. This will be the 16
th NCAA Tournament appearance for holding a 34-31 record in that time.
Below are notes for the Marshall, Texas Regional Tournament.
Participating Teams: #8 Texas Lutheran, Belhaven, SUNY-Geneseo, #6 ETBU
Regional Rankings: #1 ETBU, #2 TLU, #3 BU, #4 SUNY-G
Thursday Game
Opponent: SUNY-Geneseo Knights
Date: Thursday, May 18, 2023
Time: 4:30 p.m.
Stadium: Jason Bell Park at Taylor Field
Series: First Meeting
SUNY-Geneseo (25-16-1)
The Knights are the SUNYAC (State University of New York Athletic Conference) champions for the third straight year in a row. They played four games in their tournament going 4-0 with wins over Buffalo State (3-0), Cortland (3-2), New Paltz (4-3), and then a second win over Buffalo State, 1-0, for the championship. They are currently on an eight-game win streak.
Last year, they went 0-2 in the NCAA Tournament with losses vs. Mt. St. Joseph (7-5) and Stevens (4-0). In 2021, they went 1-2 winning their first game over Stevens, 6-4, but then fell to Rochester, 5-2, and York, 2-0. In 2019, they made it to the Super Regional losing to Trine University, 6-3, and 3-1. To get to the Super Regional, they went 4-1 in the Regional Tournament beating Thomas More twice, 3-0, 5-4, to advance on.
Brooke Fraas leads the team with a .416 batting average in 38 games played and has 47 hits. Kaitlyn Schmitz leads the team in hits with 51 and RBI (38). Samantha Martz is second in RBI with 31. Elizabeth Eberhardt is 13-2 as the ace on the team with a 1.86 ERA and 86 strikeouts. She has pitched in 22 games with 15 starts. Schmitz is 6-4 with a 3.41 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 19 appearances and 14 starts.
ETBU vs. NY Teams
ETBU has played five teams from New York and holds a 7-2 overall record in that time. This year, ETBU played two teams from New York in St. John Fisher and SUNY-Oneonta winning the double header games. In
Janae Shirley's tenure, she is 5-1 vs. New York teams.
Farmingdale State: 1-0 (Mar. 10, 2010, W, 16-0)
Ithaca College: 0-1 (Mar. 11, 2016, L, 6-1)
Plattsburgh State: 0-1 (Feb. 29, 2008, L, 5-2)
St. John Fisher: 3-0 (last meeting – 2023, W, 10-2)
SUNY-Oneonta: 4-0 (last meeting – 2023, W, 12-3)
ETBU in the NCAA Tournament
ETBU has played 65 games in the NCAA Tournament winning the 2010 national championship. They have made two appearances in the National Championship Tournament in 2010 and 2014 winning the Super Regional in 2014. They have won three Regional Championships in 2010, 2014, and 2017 and played in two Super Regional Championships (2014, 2017).
Janae Shirley Era in NCAA Tournament
Shirley has taken ETBU to 13 NCAA Tournaments in her 15 years as 2020 there was no NCAA Tournament. In her 16
th year at ETBU, she is 30-25 in the NCAA Tournament and has been the no.1 seed five times in the regional tournament. She guided ETBU to the 2010 national championship and 2014 Super Regional Championship and won three regional tournaments. She has also been the regional runners-up three times.
ETBU at the Marshall, Texas Regional Tournaments
ETBU is 11-10 in NCAA Tournament games in Marshall, Texas, and 4-6 in the last three regional tournaments. Last year, they went 1-2 winning their first game and then dropping the next two.
ETBU in the NCAA Tournament in Marshall, Texas (10-8)
2022: L, 7-5, #6 Linfield
2022: L, 4-3, #5 Belhaven
2022: W, 7-2, #6 Linfield
2021: L, 3-1, #5 Birmingham Southern
2021: W, 2-1, #9 Salisbury
2021: L, 3-2, #5 Birmingham Southern
2021: W, 6-1, Redlands
2021: W, 10-2, Eastern Nazarene
2019: L, 6-1, #8 Texas Lutheran
2019: L, 7-4, #6 Birmingham Southern
2017: W, 7-5, #17 Whitworth
2017: L, 3-1, #17 Whitworth
2017: W, 5-3, #6 Texas Dallas
2017: W, 6-3, #17 Whitworth
2014: W, 5-4, #22 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps – Super Regional Championship
2014: L, 6-4, #22 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
2014: W, 5-4, #22 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
2009: L, 2-1, Linfield
2009: L, 1-0, Texas Tyler
2009: W, 1-0, Louisiana College
2009: W, 9-0, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
National Rankings – ETBU Moves Up to #6
For the 130
th week in a row, ETBU is in the national rankings and moves up three spots to no. 6. The past three weeks they have been ranked ninth and this week, after a strong showing at the ASC Tournament, gained 200 points. They are just 10 points out of the top five. This is the highest ranking for ETBU this season in the top 25 with a 38-5 record.
Mary Hardin-Baylor, who is also hosting a regional, dropped from 15
th to 19
th. Texas Lutheran stayed at no. 8. Belhaven is receiving votes (7).
NFCA Division III Top 25 Softball Coaches Poll – May 16, 2023Others receiving votes: Pfeiffer 12, Roanoke 12, Belhaven 7, Calvin 5, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 5, St. Thomas (Texas) 4, Saint Benedict (Minn.) 2, Mount Union 1, Wisconsin-Whitewater 1.
Dropped out: Greensboro and Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
Undefeated at Bell Park at Taylor Field
For the first time in program history, ETBU went undefeated at home going 28-0. It is the most games they have played at home since 2019 when they had 26 including the NCAA Tournament games. Hosting a spring break tournament this year, ETBU went 11-0 at home including three ASC games against Howard Payne. They have walk-off wins vs. Illinois Wesleyan, 7-6, and LeTourneau, 3-2, in the 28 games and four one-run wins.
ASC Champions
For the 11
th time in program history, ETBU won the American Southwest Conference championship tournament. They went undefeated taking the win in walk-off fashion, 3-2, over Mary Hardin-Baylor in the bottom of the eighth inning scoring all three runs.
Tauryn Cummings doubled in all three runs as the bases were loaded. It is the sixth ASC Championship under head coach
Janae Shirley.
ETBU won their first game, 6-3, over LeTourneau on Thursday and then shut out McMurry, 4-0, on Friday in the winner's bracket to advance to the championship game. Against UMHB, the teams were scoreless after seven innings. UMHB scored two runs in the top of the eighth inning to go up 2-0 as the first run came in on an error. Headed to the bottom of the eighth, UMHB had one out and one on when the next two batters were walked. Cummings then took advantage of the situation with a hit to left center field that ended the game.
Ashley Croft was named the ASC Most Outstanding Player as
Hannah Kelley, Cummings, and
Corley Carpenter were named to the ASC All-Tournament team.
Croft, Maddox Top Players in ASC; ETBU Has 10 Players Earn Awards
Tristen Maddox and
Ashley Croft were voted the top players in the ASC. Maddox was named the ASC Player of the Year and Croft was the tri-Pitcher of the Year.
Maddox becomes the 10th player in program history to be named either the ASC East or ASC Player of the Year and is the second one in two years.
Hannah Garcia was the ASC Player of the Year in 2021. This is her third All-ASC award and second-straight first-team award. This year she was the ASC Hitter of the Week on Mar. 20 and is on the NFCA Player of the Year Watchlist. Last year she was a NFCA All-American second team selection along with being on the NFCA All-Region second team and on the NFCA Top 25 Players List. She made the 2021 NCAA All-Tournament team and was the ASC East Hitter of the Week. In the ASC, she leads in batting average (.438), runs (49), hits (63), doubles (16), home runs (8), RBI (45), total bases (103) and is third in stolen bases (27). In 22 games this season, she has two or more hits with three hits in three games.
Croft earns her third straight All-ASC award with two on the first team (2021, 2023) and one on the third team (2022). She is the first pitcher to be the ASC Pitcher of the Year for ETBU since 2019 (
Beatriz Lara) and is the fourth player in program history to receive the award. The ASC Tournament's Most Outstanding Player, she is on the NFCA Pitcher of the Year Watchlist, was the ASC Pitcher and Hitter of the Week once, and threw a no-hitter vs. Southwestern on Mar. 7. In 2021, she was on the NFCA All-West Region first team, twice won the ASC Pitcher of the Week, and was the NFCA Pitcher of the Week once. She leads the ASC in wins (19) and is third in opponent batting average (.205). Her 19 wins are 14th in NCAA Division III and she has won her last 11 outings. She has a 1.96 ERA with 58 strikeouts in 20 appearances (110.1 innings pitched) and has four shutouts.
Also
earning All-ASC first team were Courtney White (2B),
Tauryn Cummings (3B), Mary Frances Ellis (OF), and Delanie
Loya (at-large, 1B). On the All-ASC second team are
Corley Carpenter and
Hannah Kelley. Jal
en Perez (OF)) made the All-ASC third while Mallory Pyle was honorable mention as a catcher.
ASC Awards
ASC Player of the Year:
Tristen Maddox
ASC Pitcher of the Year:
Ashley Croft
All-ASC First Team
Courtney White – 2B
Tauryn Cummings – 3B
Tristen Maddox – SS
Mary Frances Ellis – OF
Ashley Croft – P
Delanie Loya – At-Large – 1B
All-ASC Second Team
Corley Carpenter – OF
Hannah Kelley – P
All-ASC Third Team
Jalen Perez – OF
All-ASC Honorable Mention
Mallory Pyle - C
Pitching Staff Scoreless Streak
In the middle of the season, the ETBU pitching staff went 29 straight innings without allowing any runs. From March 27 through April 11, ETBU didn't allow a run to cross home plate. The streak started in the seventh inning vs. DePauw University on March 27 and ended in the seventh inning against LeTourneau on April 11. ETBU posted five straight shut outs not allowing any runs against McMurry University sweeping them in ASC play, 8-0, 9-0, and 8-0. They then won the first two games over LeTourneau, 8-0 and 2-0, before walking off the win in the bottom of the seventh, 3-2, in the final game of the series.
