BOX SCORE

Alpine, Texas – Colton Gommert drove in four runs by going 5-for-5 from the plate and Colin Butschek picked up his fourth victory of the season on the mound to lead the Concordia University Texas baseball team to a 14-6 win over Sul Ross State on Friday, March 18 at Kokernot Field. The Tornados used a five-run sixth inning and a seven-run eighth to remain in a tie for first place with Texas Lutheran in the American Southwest Conference West Division.

Sul Ross State (10-8, ASC 2-2), which led for most of the game, scored two runs on a double by Brennyn Smith in the bottom the first, but Concordia answered right back and knotted the score in the top of the third courtesy of a two-run double by Gommert. Kurt Hurley, however, broke the tie with a one-out RBI single in the fourth to give the Lobos a 3-2 edge.

Concordia (12-8, ASC 4-0) was able to rally by exploding for 12 runs in a span of three innings. A Bucky Bryant RBI single in the sixth gave the Tornados their first lead of the game before Kyle Bieschke came in as a pinch hitter and padded it with a two-run hit to make it a 6-3 score. Bieschke later came home on a wild pitch to close out the scoring in the frame.

The Tornados were able to put the game away by pushing across seven more runs in the eighth. C.J. Riojas, Collin Janssen, and Gommert all singled in runs, while two additional Tornados came home on wild pitches to give the visitors all the insurance they would need to stay unbeaten in league play.

Butschek picked up the win to improve his record to 4-1 on the year despite giving up 11 hits and four runs which were earned over 5.1 innings for Concordia. He issued one walk in the fifth, after going 24 consecutive innings without yielding a free pass to opposing hitters, and recorded three strikeouts. Sul Ross State's Luke Fry suffered the loss to drop to 3-3 after giving up nine hits and seven runs, including one earned, over six innings. He struck out three batters.

Concordia and Sul Ross State will conclude the three-game set with a doubleheader on Saturday, March 19 beginning at 12:05 p.m.
-agate-
Concordia (12-8, ASC 4-0)            002      005      070    14   15    0
Sul Ross State (10-8, ASC 2-1)   200      101      002      6    15    5
     Concordia: Colin Butcheck, Ryan Ullmann (6), Lance Thompson (9) and Collin Janssen.
     Sul Ross State: Luke Fry, Jose Gonzales (7), Rob Lopez (8) and Cameron Sellstrom, Eric Martinez (9).