CLARKSVILLE, Ark. – The Concordia University Texas baseball team opened American Southwest Conference (ASC) play with a doubleheader sweep of Ozarks as snow fell at Lonnie R. Qualls Field on Sunday. The Tornados won the opening contest 7-3 and picked up a 7-1 victory in the nightcap.
Concordia Texas (6-3, 2-0 ASC) posted 25 hits in the twinbill, including a pair of grand slams. In his first collegiate at-bat, freshman outfielder
Caleb Maddox cleared the bases in the sixth inning of the opener to give the Tornados the lead for good. Junior infielder
Adam Ortega then blasted a grand slam in the sixth inning of the nightcap to give CTX a 4-0 lead.
Sophomore outfielder
Race Mellman led Concordia's offensive charge with five hits, including two doubles, during the two games. Ortega and
Garrett Benyo both tallied three hits.
The Tornados' pitching staff also was up to the challenge. Four hurlers combined to limit the Eagles (2-6, 0-2 ASC) to only two earned runs on the day.
GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS• CTX struck in the first inning, as
Damian Del Signore singled, stole second and was driven in by
Luke Kress' single to left center.
• After Ozarks scored three times in the bottom of the first, the Tornados picked up a run in the third on
Colton Poindexter's RBI single.
• The Tornados tied the game in the fifth, as
Michael Evan doubled to left center, scoring Maddox from second base.
•
Gareth Hutton and Mellman tallied back-to-back singles to lead off the next frame. After an
Alex Steadman sacrifice bunt,
Trevor Harlos came off the bench and drew a walk to load the bases. Following a strikeout, Maddox stepped to the plate for the first time in his career and hit a grand slam to break the tie.
•
Cameron Cox shut out the Eagles the rest of the way. The right-hander, who improved to 2-0 on the year, scattered four hits, and gave up three runs (two earned) while striking out seven.
GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS• Following five scoreless panels, the Tornados finally broke through in the sixth, sending 10 batters to the plate.
• CTX loaded the bases with one out for Ortega, who blasted a grand slam to left field.
•
Cole Calder and Hutton then drew back-to-back walks before Mellman hit a run-scoring single to right field, giving Concordia a 5-0 advantage.
• Ozarks managed to score a run in the bottom of the inning, but CTX answered with two in the seventh.
•
Allan Watson pinch ran and later scored on a wild pitch to push the lead to 6-0, and Calder drove in
Caleb Rodriguez on an infield single to cap the scoring.
• Three Tornados pitchers limited the Eagles to just one run in the nightcap.
•
Ragan Pope (1-1) earned the win after working around six hits and an unearned run. The southpaw also fanned seven.
•
Justin Traxler worked the final 3.2 stanzas to earn his first career save. Trailer did not yield a hit, walked one and struck out five in the relief stint.
SCHEDULE UPDATE• Monday's series finale already has been canceled due to wintry conditions in Clarksville.
• The two teams played a majority of Sunday's nightcap with snow falling.
COMING UP NEXT• The Tornados will return to Austin to open a four-game home stand next weekend.
• Concordia will start the home stand by hosting Louisiana College in a league doubleheader at 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 27.
• Between Friday's games, the Tornados and head coach
Tommy Boggs will shave their heads in an attempt to raise funds for kids' cancer. For more information on this endeavor, click
here.
NOTES•
Garrett Benyo stretched his hitting streak to four games.
•Â
Connor Bertsch and
Colton Poindexter both have reached base in each of the Tornados first nine games.
• Prior to Sunday's two grand slams, the Tornados' last grand slam was hit by Collin Janssen against La Verne on Feb. 19, 2012.
• Following Janssen's grand slam, Concordia went 4,129 at-bats before
Caleb Maddox was able to accomplish the feat.
• The Tornados then went only 28 at-bats before
Adam Ortega also hit a grand slam in the sixth inning of the second game.
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