ABILENE, Texas – The Concordia University Texas baseball team added to its best start in program history on Saturday by sweeping an American Southwest Conference (ASC) doubleheader from Hardin-Simmons at Hunter Field. The Tornados claimed the opener 6-3 and rolled to a 14-3 run-rule victory in the nightcap.
Concordia Texas (13-2, 10-1 ASC), which swept a three-game series from the Cowboys (6-9, 4-8 ASC) for the first time since 2002, earned its fourth series sweep of the spring.
The Tornados pounded out 27 hits in the twinbill.
Connor Bertsch and
Jon McManemin each collected five hits in the doubleheader to lead the way. Bertsch posted a double and drove in three, while McManemin had two doubles in the nightcap and drove in one.
Colton Poindexter chipped in with two hits, including a two-run homer in the second contest.
Dillon Stavinoha (1-0) picked up the win in the first game after allowing a run on two hits in 1.1 innings of relief.
Corey Holmes, who struck out four of the six hitters he faced, hurled a pair of scoreless frames to earn his second save of the campaign.
Kiel Harmon (3-0) limited Hardin-Simmons to a run on five hits in five strong panels to pick up the victory in the finale. The right-hander also struck out four.
Concordia will return to action next weekend against East Texas Baptist. The three-game league series is scheduled to open at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 21 at Tornado Field.
POST-SERIES NOTES
• The Tornados completed just the second three-game sweep of Hardin-Simmons in program history. The last took place March 8-9, 2002, also in Abilene. Concordia won that series by scores of 7-6, 12-9 and 5-2.
• Concordia's current winning streak was extended to four games.
• Brandon Hollier extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a single in the first inning of the opener.
• Corey Holmes threw two more perfect innings in the opening game of the doubleheader. The right-hander has worked 6.1 frames without allowing a hit this season. Holmes also has struck out 10 of the 20 batters he has faced.
• Connor Bertsch finished this weekend's series 7-for-11 (.636) with two doubles and five RBIs. The left-handed hitter slugged .818 and reached base at a .667 clip. He improved his batting average to a team-leading .455.
• The Tornados are 12-0 this season when scoring six or more runs in a game. CTX also earned a 5-1 victory over Louisiana College on March 1.
• Concordia also improved to 12-0 this spring when leading after the sixth inning. The Tornados are 103-10 while leading after the sixth inning in the Tommy Boggs era (since 2010).
