SEGUIN, Texas – The No. 23 Concordia University Texas baseball team split a pair of games at the Texas Lutheran Tournament on Friday to open the 2015 season. The Tornados dropped a 2-1 decision to No. 29 George Fox in the opener, but defeated Whittier 8-3 in the nightcap.
WHERE THEY STAND• Concordia Texas is 1-1 overall.
GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS• The Bruins picked up solo runs in the second and fifth innings on sacrifice flies.
• The Tornados managed their lone run in the fifth on
Landon Lau's infield RBI single.
• CTX put
Colton Poindexter and
Gareth Hutton in motion from first and second bases, which allowed Lau to push the first pitch of his at-bat to the right side. As the throw went to first base, Poindexter rounded third and headed home to score the first run of the season.
• Ian Buckles earned the win for George Fox after holding the Tornados to one run on two hits over seven frames. Buckles also fanned seven.
•
Ragan Pope took the loss after surrendering two runs on four hits over 4.1 panels. The southpaw walked three and struck out one.
GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS• Concordia scored four runs in both the third and seventh innings to rally from a 2-0 deficit and defeat the Poets.
• The Tornados tallied 10 hits, including five doubles.
•
Cole Calder was 2-for-5 with a double and scored twice.
•
Alex Steadman went 2-for-4 with a double, while
Connor Bertsch had a double and drove in two runs.
•
Michael Evan also had a single and two RBIs.
•
Brandon Garwood started the game on the mound for CTX, but was lifted with one out in the fifth inning. The left-hander allowed three runs on seven hits and struck out two.
•
Trey Pledger came in with the bases loaded in the fifth and retired both batters he faced on five pitches to earn the win.
•
Sean Mathews picked up the save after hurling four scoreless stanzas.
• Nick Garcia was saddled with the loss for Whittier after being touched up for four runs on seven hits.
COMING UP NEXT• Concordia will close out tournament play against Centenary at 3 p.m. Saturday.
