AUSTIN, Texas – The ninth-ranked Concordia University Texas baseball team split a doubleheader against Texas-Tyler Saturday at Tornado Field, but dropped the American Southwest Conference series. The Tornados won the opener 3-0 and dropped the nightcap 6-3.
Cameron Cox (W, 10-0) hurled a four-hit shutout to lead Concordia Texas (25-8, 19-4 ASC) to a victory in the middle game of the series. The Round Rock native walked one and struck out five, while logging his fifth shutout and eighth complete game of the campaign.
The Tornados backed up Cox with three runs in the second inning.
Gareth Hutton,
Luke Kress and
Cole Calder all drove in runs in the frame.
Cox took care of the rest.
The right-hander allowed only three hits in the final five panels. After Texas-Tyler (26-10, 21-6 ASC) put two on base in the seventh, Cox fanned Douglas Kinsey to close out the game.
In the nightcap, Concordia Texas built a 3-0 lead through the first five stanzas.
CTX picked up two of its tallies in the fourth.
Connor Bertsch hammered a ground-rule double to left center, allowing
Caleb Rodriguez to score from second base. Two batters later, Hutton singled through the right side, which pushed
Michael Evan across the plate.
Evan then produced a run-scoring single in the following panel to give the Tornados a three-run advantage.
However, the Patriots started their comeback in the seventh. The visitors tallied a run after loading the bases with one out. Reid Coover grounded out, pushing across the first run of the game.
An inning later, Kevan House hit a solo home run over the wall in left center, cutting Concordia's lead to only a run.
With one out in the ninth, Coover reached on a fielding error to start the rally. After
Trey Pledger hit back-to-back batters to load the bases,
Dillon Stavinoha entered the game. However, his fourth pitch came to far inside and hit House, allowing the tying run to cross the plate. Blake Bonnin following with an RBI groundout and Sam Lane hit a two-run double to cap the scoring.
The Tornados put two on base in their final at-bat, but Chad Hayes (S, 10) was able to retire the final batter to clinch the series for the Patriots.
Pledger (L, 1-1) was handed the loss after three unearned runs were charged to him.
Concordia retained a slim lead for the top spot over the Patriots in the ASC standings, despite dropping two of three games this weekend. The Tornados will hit the road next weekend to play Sul Ross State in a three-game set in Alpine.
