BROWNWOOD, Texas – Race Mellman drove in four runs and three pitchers combined on a five-hit shutout, as the eighth-ranked Concordia University Texas baseball team rolled to a 15-0 victory over Howard Payne in the American Southwest Conference series opener at Don Shepard Park on Friday afternoon.
Mellman was 2-for-6 with a double. He picked up an RBI with single in the third inning. Five frames later, the Refugio native placed a double down the left-field line, which drove in a pair. He added another RBI in the ninth.
The Tornados (22-6, 16-2 ASC) pounded out 15 hits in the series lid-lifter.
Garrett Benyo,
Michael Evan and
Gareth Hutton joined Mellman with two hits on the day.
Adam Ortega was 1-for-4 with two RBIs and
Alex Steadman produced a pinch-hit double that plated a pair of runs.
Concordia Texas' pitching was as impressive.
Ragan Pope (4-2) worked seven scoreless innings as the starter. The left-hander gave up only four hits, walked two and struck out eight.
Sean Mathews and
Drew Van Winkle each logged a scoreless panel to close out the contest.
The Tornados opened the contest with runs in the first three stanzas to jump out to a 4-0 lead.
Connor Bertsch recorded a sacrifice fly in the first inning, which allowed
Cole Calder to score the first run of the contest.
An inning later,
Caleb Rodriguez doubled down the left-field line, which plated Benyo from second base.
Concordia added two runs in the third, including one on Ortega's squeeze bunt.
After two scoreless frames, Hutton crossed home plate on a wild pitch in the sixth.
In the seventh,
Trevor Harlos came off the bench to record a pinch-hit RBI single through the middle of the infield.
CTX busted the game open with eight runs in the eighth inning to take a 14-0 advantage. Twelve batters came to the plate in the stanza. The Tornados collected six hits in the eighth, including Mellman and Steadman's two-run doubles.
Concordia added one final mark in the ninth, as Mellman reached on a fielding errorr, which allowed
Caleb Maddox to score from third base.
Shae Edmonds (2-5) was saddled with the loss, as the right-hander yielded five runs (three earned) on seven hits over 6.1 innings.
The series will conclude Saturday with a doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m.
