BROWNWOOD, Texas – The eighth-ranked Concordia University Texas baseball team won both ends of a doubleheader against Howard Payne Saturday at Don Shepard Park to complete the American Southwest Conference (ASC) series sweep. The Tornados captured a 7-1 win in the opener and a 9-3 victory in the nightcap.
Concordia Texas (24-6, 18-2 ASC), which has won 13 of its last 15 contests, allowed only one earned run in the three-game set.
Cameron Cox improved to 9-0 on the year in the first tilt, as the right-hander allowed only an unearned run on four hits in the complete-game victory.
Josh Smith ran his record to 5-0 in the finale. The righty gave up two unearned runs and only three hits in five stanzas.
Justin Traxler picked up his fourth save of the season after giving up only one run and two hits in three frames.
At the plate, the Tornados were led by
Adam Ortega's five hits. The junior infielder was 3-for-3 in the first contest and 2-for-5 with an RBI double in the nightcap.
Cole Calder hit his first home run of the season, a two-run shot in the fifth inning of the opener.
Connor Bertsch belted his fourth round-tripper of the campaign, as the left-handed slugger hit a two-run shot in Concordia's six-run sixth in the second contest. Bertsch drove in four runs on the day.
The Yellow Jackets (12-19, 7-16 ASC) picked up three of their four runs on the day in the first inning of both contests. Howard Payne plated a run on an error in the first inning of the opener. The hosts then scored a pair of unearned runs in the first frame of the finale. HPU also plated its only earned run of the weekend in the eighth of the second contest, as Connor Roberts posted an RBI single.
The Tornados will return home to host Texas-Tyler next weekend. The opener of the three-game set is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Friday at Tornado Field.
