MARSHALL, Texas – A late-inning rally by no. 25/29 East Texas Baptist University was enough for the opening round American Southwest Conference Tournament win over Hardin-Simmons University, 6-4. ETBU scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to advance to the ASC semi-final game on Friday. The Tigers are now 26-14 and 7-3 in opening-round games of the ASC Tournament under
Jared Hood.
ETBU had seven hits, with three being extra-base hits, as
Connor Massimini and
Dylan Burnaman collected home runs.
Hunter Rumachik added a double.
Luke Finn and Burnaman had two hits: Massimini posted two RBI, and
Joaquin Costa,
Ben Lea, and
Carson Livesay had one RBI.
Matthew Irwin went 6.1 innings for a no-decision with five strikeouts and a perfect game through five innings.
Carson Speegle pitched the final 2.2 innings for his fourth win recording four strikeouts with two earned runs and two hits.
ETBU had two home runs in the second inning for a 3-0 lead. With no outs, Massimini, who was the second batter of the inning, hit a two-run home run for a 2-0 lead. After a ground out, Burnaman had a solo shot to right field making it 3-0.
Irwin cruised through the first five innings retiring the first 15 batters he faced. The first batter of the sixth inning hit a solo home run for HSU's first run. HSU added another run in the seventh to come within one, 3-2, as Speegle came in to get the final two outs. Livesay gave ETBU a two-run lead, 4-2, in the bottom of the inning on a ground out as
Luke Bumpus came in as the fourth run.
HSU hit a two-run home run in the eighth with two outs to tie the game at four. ETBU responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning. With the bases loaded, Costa hit into a fielder's choice as Chase Crawford became the go-ahead run, 5-4. Back-to-back walks from HSU pitching gave Lea a RBI with the bases loaded, pushing the lead to two, 6-4.
Speegle went 1-2-3, retiring the side in the top of the ninth with two strikeouts to end the game.
ETBU will face LeTourneau University at 3:00 p.m. on Friday for a chance to advance to the ASC Championship Game on Saturday.
