With Super Regionals set to begin, ETBU Softball has depth and experience on its side, as the Tigers aim to keep their storybook season alive
ETBU Softball's Super Regional begins today at 2 p.m. against Williams College
MARSHALL, Texas—Exactly a decade ago, ETBU Softball made the program’s second appearance in the Division III Softball World Series. Nine consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament have followed, but the first eight all ended before the Tigers could make a return appearance on D-III softball’s biggest stage.
As for the ninth? That story is still being written. And the next chapter is set to commence Thursday afternoon.
ETBU is into the Super Regionals, one weekend away from the World Series, with Williams College standing in the way. Two wins over the next three days and the Tigers are in. They understand the opportunity at hand, especially considering the fact that the World Series will be hosted at Taylor Field, their home stadium.
For a team that is 20-0 at home this season, getting the chance to play for a national title on their home field is a seemingly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And it’s an opportunity ETBU is in full pursuit of.
They enter Thursday’s Game 1 matchup against the Ephs with an impeccable 41-2 record, the second-best winning percentage in D-III, and an 18-game winning streak. The momentum is on the side of the Tigers it seems, especially after they survived a regional last weekend that featured ninth-ranked Texas Lutheran. It was the only regional in the D-III softball national tournament with two Top 10 teams. Yet, ETBU outscored the Bulldogs 17-3 in a pair of victories.
Anchoring ETBU on the mound through both wins was Avery Holland, a freshman left-hander out of Fredericksburg, Texas. Continuing with what has been an exceptional campaign for the first-year pitcher, Holland fired seven-inning complete games on back-to-back days against one of the most potent lineups in Region 10. TLU totaled just 10 hits and two earned runs off Holland, who boasts a perfect 12-0 record in the circle this season.
“She’s unique in that, being a freshman, she has this presence and confidence that gives her the ability to [pitch] like she’s been there before,” ETBU head coach Janae Shirley said of Holland, who has a 1.50 ERA in her first collegiate season.
And she isn’t the only one. ETBU legitimately had three candidates for ASC Freshman of the Year this season, without question. That’s how good—and how impactful—the Tigers freshman class has been to their success this spring.
“When you have freshmen coming into a program, you aren’t really sure how they’re going to make the transition to the speed of the game and level of play at the college level,” Shirley said. “With this group, we felt like these kids were going to be solid and do certain things, but for them to hit the ground running the way they have [has been huge]. And it hasn’t been just one of them. The whole class has provided extra bats in the lineup and things like that.”
Haylie Stum, a Cypress, Texas product who holds a team-high .488 average, won the ASC Freshman of the Year honor, as her bat hasn’t cooled off since the first week of March, when she recorded nine runs batted in and 11 hits in four wins at the NFCA Leadoff Classic. Additionally, Emma Bell was the only Tiger to go 2-for-2 in ETBU’s opening game of regional play against Simmons last Thursday, and she has started all 43 games this season. Ava Rodriguez has become Shirley’s go-to pinch-hitter in situations with runners in scoring position, notably driving in a pair of go-ahead runs in the fifth inning of Saturday’s regional final win over TLU. And the list goes on with contributors like Ava Nieto and Izabella Morales, not to mention another exceptional newcomer in junior pitcher Hannah Benavides, a junior college transfer who was named both ASC Newcomer of the Year and ASC Pitcher of the Year nine days ago.
“[The freshmen] have provided a lot of depth, and we now have the experience added to the depth,” Shirley said. “It’s been this good combination that has allowed us to click throughout the season.”
The “experience” includes returning First Team All-Americans Tristen Maddox and Courtney White, who have formed one of the most reliable middle infield duos in D-III. The senior standouts each boast a fielding percentage above .970, and are amongst ETBU’s Top 5 in batting average, RBIs, and total bases. Maddox leads the Tigers in home runs with 14, a mark that is also tied for sixth in the country.
The balance found between the experienced upperclassmen and the impactful freshmen has been one of ETBU’s main components to success. Entering the season, everyone knew to prepare for Maddox, White, and the other veteran bats in the lineup. But opponents quickly realized that weaknesses were few and far between for a team that heads into the Super Regionals with the best team batting average in the nation (.391).
“[Opposing coaches] knew we had these All-Americans,” Shirley said, “So how they approached those kids was a lot different than how they approached pitching to our new kids. And those new kids really stepped up to the challenge. It made people look at our lineup a little differently. Up and down the lineup, you have to be pretty sharp on the mound, or those kids are going to make stuff happen.”
In 2010, Shirley led ETBU to its first national championship, winning the title in her third year as head coach. That squad became the first to win 40 games in a season under Shirley’s leadership, and while there are some notable differences between the two teams, there are also several intangible qualities shared. And this year’s team is seeking to etch its name into the record books in the same way the 2010 squad did 14 seasons ago.
“I think one of the biggest things that propelled the 2010 team was the chemistry and that they were competing for each other,” Shirley noted recently. “That was special, and I think this team has a lot of similarities to that. Now, we had 14 kids on the team [in 2010] so there wasn’t as much depth.
“The 2010 team was the best 6th and 7th inning group. This group has done a good job of that, and battling back if we allow runs. We’ve talked about it all year. People are going to score runs on us. We just have to know that we’re never out of any game. Against Berry at the leadoff classic, we jumped on them early and then they came back and scored runs on us, then we rallied back.
“For a lot of teams, especially with younger kids, [giving up runs] is defeating and can take the energy out of you. They’ve never allowed it to happen like that. They’ve stayed steady through games, which has been a positive.”
ETBU’s Super Regional appearance is the Tigers’ first since 2017. Game 1 is set for 2:00 pm. this afternoon, with Game 2 on Friday at 1 pm. If necessary, Game 3 will be played on Saturday, with a first pitch time of 3:30 pm in Marshall. The entire series will be broadcasted live on goetbutigers.com.
A look at the Lone Star State competitors at the NCAA Track & Field Championships
Today marks Day 1 of the 2024 Division III Track & Field national championships, set to be contested over a three-day span in sunny Myrtle Beach, South Carolina as Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium. After a number of stellar performances through the spring, Texas will be well-represented on the national stage, with eight Lone Star State institutions having at least one competitor in the field.
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Of note...McMurry's Dontre Sinegal, who will compete in three events at nationals, is the only contender in the men’s 110-meter hurdles to have broken 14 seconds this season. His seed time of 13.87 seconds is 0.13 faster than anyone else in the 24-man field.
LeTourneau’s Josiah Murphy, who will begin competition in the men’s decathlon this morning, is the first Yellowjacket student-athlete to qualify for NCAAs in the decathlon and he currently holds the LETU decathlon record (6.421 points). It is the third-straight year LETU has had a male athlete at NCAAs.
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On the women’s side for LETU, Ellie Marsh, the ASC Champion in the 400-meter hurdles, is just the second female student-athlete in Yellowjacket history to reach the NCAA Championships.
ETBU is the only Texas school running in the men’s 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relays, with the 4x400 quartet clinching the final spot in the 16-team field after a strong performance at the Augustana (IL) Last Chance Meet on May 15. Speaking of relays, Heat 2 of the men’s 4x100-meter relay will feature three Texas programs in TLU, ETBU, and McMurry.
We have listed all competitors from Texas programs below, categorized by their respective event, with their school and seed time/best mark listed to the right. Live stats can be found at results.leonetiming.com.
Men’s 100 meters
Hayden Green, East Texas Baptist, 10.41
Brandon Powell, East Texas Baptist, 10.51
Dazhaun Walton, McMurry, 10.36
Men’s 200 meters
Dazhaun Walton, McMurry, 20.95
Men’s 1500 meters
Will Salony, Trinity, 3:47.56
Men’s 110 meter hurdles
Dontre Sinegal, McMurry, 13.87
Davare Payne, Hardin-Simmons, 14.26
Azariah Anderson, Trinity, 14.28
Kade Kimmel, McMurry, 14.32
Men’s 400 meter hurdles
Justin DeLeon, McMurry, 52.81
Zach Sell, UT-Dallas, 52.97
Men’s 4x100 meter relay
McMurry (Jaheim Billison, Jacorian Colbert, John Joiner, Dazhaun Walton), 40.56
Texas Lutheran (Justin Freeney, Bryce Powell-Chimene, Rickey Franks, Weston Guzman), 40.80
Trinity (Legend Grigsby, Orie Piken, Justin Johnson, Price Schultea), 40.83
East Texas Baptist (Malik Cooper, Brandon Powell, Andrae Gibson, Hayden Green), 40.83
Men’s 4x400 meter relay
East Texas Baptist (Andrae Gibson, Brandon Powell, Carlos Torres-Izquierdo, Rangel Miller), 3:12.88
Men’s High Jump
Garret Rothans, Hardin-Simmons, 2.10m
Adrian Washington, Southwestern, 2.07m
Gunner Helm, Hardin-Simmons, 2.05m
Men’s Pole Vault
Ezra Acero, Texas Lutheran, 5.02m
Men’s Long Jump
Dontre Sinegal, McMurry, 7.45m
Brandon Powell, East Texas Baptist, 7.39m
Davare Payne, Hardin-Simmons, 7.30m
Men’s Triple Jump
Dontre Sinegal, McMurry, 15.42m
Davare Payne, Hardin-Simmons, 15.11m
Justin Johnson, Trinity, 14.69m
Men’s Hammer Throw
Reagan Owen, McMurry, 58.73m
Men’s Decathlon
Josiah Murphy, LeTourneau, 6,421
Women’s 100 meter hurdles
Naj Campbell, McMurry, 14.14
Women’s 400 meter hurdles
Ellie Marsh, LeTourneau, 1:02.80
Women’s Triple Jump
Joy Areola, Trinity, 12.20m
Women’s Javelin Throw
Neelie Schiel, East Texas Baptist, 40.78m
Women’s Golf: UTD’s Lee leading the field at NCAA Championships
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NICHOLASVILLE, Kentucky—In what will be UT-Dallas’ final NCAA Championship appearance as a Division III institution, the Comets are making it count at the D-III women’s golf national championships, headlined by the performance of Karen Lee.
In what was recorded the second-best round in UTD women’s golf history, Lee shot a 68 (-4) in Tuesday’s opening round, pulling away from the rest of the field with a three-stroke lead. This is her second D-III championship appearance, as she finished tied for 22nd overall at last year’s tournament in her first season at UTD. She remains in the lead, with Day 2 of the tournament on Wednesday having been postponed midway through due to darkness. Lee will resume play with 10 holes remaining this morning.
And for the team as a whole, UTD is currently in eighth place, just two strokes back from the Top 5 and well inside the cut line to advance to the third round. The Comets will resume their second round of play this morning, as the ASC Champions look to gain ground in the team standings.
Additionally, SCAC champion Trinity is sitting in 14th place, on pace for a strong second round. The Tigers will look to make the cut today, as only the Top 15 teams advance. Follow the action at results.golfstat.com.
Stay tuned for a special edition of The Big and The Best of D3 Texas tomorrow, as we feature ETBU starting pitcher Sayers Collins, the 2024 Perfect Game DIII Pitcher of the Year, in addition to a Q&A with ETBU baseball head coach Jared Hood as the Tigers enter the Super Regionals.
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