MARSHALL, Texas – Combining for 18 struck outs and allowing one earned run, no. 4/5 East Texas Baptist University won the 2024 American Southwest Conference regular season title sweeping the University of Texas Dallas in both games, 5-1. It is the third year in a row that ETBU has won or shared the regular season title and won 30 or more games. The Tigers are now 30-6 and 19-1 in the ASC.
Sayers Collins and
Jagger Neely showed why they are one of the top duo pitching staffs in the nation as both recorded nine strikeouts and allowed one earned run. Robert Craft gained his seventh save of the year in game two going two innings with two strikeouts.
ETBU wracked up 19 hits as
Hunter Rumachik,
Jacob Evangelista,
Connor Massimini, and
Dylan Burnaman each had three hits. Massimini led the way with three RBI and a home run. Rumachik and Burnaman also added a home run and two RBI.
Nick Massarini,
Brett Wagner, and Michael Gallegos all had one RBI.
Game 1
ETBU 5, UTD 1
In the seven inning game, Collins went six innings with nine strikeouts, no earned runs, and five hits. Evangelista, Burnaman, and Rumachik all had two hits. ETBU scored four runs in the first two innings for the lead and added their fifth in the fourth inning.
Massimini gave ETBU a 2-0 lead with a two-run home run in the first inning. UTD cut the lead to one in the second inning but Burnaman hit a two-run home run to left field for the 4-1 lead in the bottom of the inning. Massimini then gave ETBU their fifth run in the fourth inning on a ground out.
Collins retired the side in the fourth and struck out the side in the sixth inning.
Brayden Hodges pitched the seventh inning allowing just one hit.
Game 2
ETBU 5, UTD 1
Neely went seven of the nine innings for his eighth win of the year recording nine strikeouts and one earned run on six hits. ETBU had nine hits in the win with a home run.
Massimini and
Landon Durdin both had two hits. Rumachik recorded a home run and two RBI while Wagner, Gallegos, and Massarini had one RBI.
UTD took a 1-0 lead in the second inning but ETBU had a three-run fourth inning for a two-run lead. Wagner walked with the bases loaded to tie the game at one and then Rumachik recorded a sac fly for the 2-1 lead. Gallegos then hit into a fielder's choice that let
Nicolas Chavez score making it 3-1.
In the sixth inning, Massarini doubled in Durdin for a 4-1 lead and then Rumachik hit a 377-foot solo home run to right field for the 5-1 final.
ETBU will play UTD in one more game, with weather pending, this weekend either on Saturday or Sunday.
