GAME ONE BOX SCORE

GAME TWO BOX SCORE

Austin, Texas – Justin Beasley hit his first home of the season and was one of three Tornados to record a hit for extra bases in a comeback effort, but the Concordia University Texas baseball team dropped both ends of a twinbill against Hardin-Simmons on Saturday, March 26 at Tornado Field. The Cowboys ended the weekend alone in first place, posting victories by scores of 8-6 and 6-3, while the Tornados dropped into a tie for second with Texas Lutheran.

In what turned out to be a seesaw affair with four ties and two lead changes, Hardin-Simmons (20-6, ASC 7-2) jumped out on top quickly in the opener by scoring twice in the top of the first. Taylor Berlin grounded out into a double play with the bases loaded, which allowed Lejuan Edwards to score the first run, before Troy Tarrant drove in the second run on a triple off the wall in right.

Concordia, however, fought back and scored four times in the bottom of the first. Justin Beasley, Kyle Bieschke, C.J. Riojas and Kristopher Pearce hit consecutive RBI singles with two outs to give the Tornados a two-run lead.

After the Cowboys rallied to tie the game at 4-all in the top of the second, Beasley came through for the Tornados by clubbing a home run over the fence in left that just stayed fair to put the Tornados ahead again to start the third. It was the first time the Tornados plated a run in the weekend series with less than two outs on the board.

But Hardin-Simmons used the ASC's top-ranked offense to regain the lead. Tarrant blasted a two-run double to give the visitors a 6-5 advantage in the top of the fifth.

Despite surrendering the lead, Concordia was able to tie the game and force extra innings by using aggressive baserunning in the bottom of the sixth. After Matt McManemin was hit by a pitch and advanced to third on a failed pickoff attempt, the second baseman appeared to be caught in a rundown when trying to come home on a grounder that Brent Schaekel hit to the shortstop. But catcher Chris Matthews airmailed a throw to his third baseman, which allowed McManemin to score and Schaekel to slide in safely to third. Pitcher James Simmons, however, got out of the minor jam by forcing Collin Janssen to ground into a double play. The Cowboys used the momentum to score twice in the top of the eighth and win the game.

Concordia's Bryant Hernandez was tagged with the loss and fell to 1-1 on the season after surrendering two runs, which were both earned, over the last two innings of the game. He also issued four walks and struck out two Cowboys hitters. Simmons earned the victory, improving to 5-1, by yielding just one hit over three scoreless frames.

Hardin-Simmons scored the first run in the top of the second inning of the nightcap on an RBI single by Joe Dearing before a lightning strike delayed the game for 30 minutes. Following the delay, Kyle Bieschke doubled to deep center to start the bottom of the second as well as a rally. Bucky Bryant blasted a two-run ground rule double, tying the game up a 1-all, and Matt McManemin singled up the middle two plays later to put the Tornados ahead by a run.

Pedro Maldonado appeared to be in cruise control following the lightning delay, but the Cowboy hitters were able to figure him out in the late innings. Jay Hiller and Brian Weeks each singled to start the sixth and came home when Berlin singled to right for his third hit of the game.

With the game tied at threes in the top of the seventh, Berlin came through again with a single through the left side to plate the go-ahead run. Tarrant, who drove in four runs in the opener, then added insurance for the visitors with a two-RBI double that plated Hiller and Weeks. Simmons entered the game for the bottom of the seventh and kept the Tornados off the board to seal the win.

Concordia's Maldonado suffered the loss and fell to 1-2 on the year after giving up 11 hits and six runs, which were all earned, in 6.2 innings of work. Brunnemann picked up the victory for Hardin-Simmons, improving to 2-1, for hurling a scoreless sixth inning. Simmons, who was the winning pitcher in the opener, picked up the save in the nightcap by only issuing a walk in the bottom of the seventh.

Concordia (14-11, ASC 6-3) will look to stay in a position for a playoff bid when it visits McMurry for a three-game series next weekend, which begins on Friday, April 1 at 7 p.m.
-agate-
Hardin-Simmons                                 220      020     02     8   12    3
Concordia                                             401      001     00     6    10    2
     Hardin-Simmons: Blake Sieck, Trevor Stringer (3), James Simmons (6) and Chris Matthews
     Concordia: Ryan Ullmann, Gerry Morrison (5), Bryant Hernandez (7) and Collin Janssen.

Hardin-Simmons (20-6, ASC 7-2)     010     002     3     6    12    1
Concordia (14-11, ASC 6-3)               020     100     0     3     5     0
     Hardin-Simmons: Kyle D'Alessio, Troy Nicholson (4), Tyler Brunnemann (6), James Simmons (7) and Cody Jarboe.
     Concordia: Pedro Maldonado, Gerry Morrison (7) and Collin Janssen.