BROWNWOOD, Texas – The Concordia Baseball team swept Howard Payne in a doubleheader on Saturday after scoring a combined 25 runs on 30 hits.

In game one, the Tornados used four pitchers, combining to pitch seven innings, giving up only three runs on five hits. Jake Valadez started the game, pitching into the fifth.

CTX grabbed the early lead in the second after back-to-back singles by Michael Evan and Valadez to start off the inning. Two outs later, Nathan Train drove in both runs with a
single to make it 2-0.

The Tornados would add a run in the fourth and fifth, to extend their lead to 4-0. In the bottom half of the fourth, the Yellow Jackets pushed across a run to make it 4-1.

HPU made it a one-run game in the sixth after a couple of CTX errors led to a pair of runs and made it 4-3. Trey Toney came in relief in the sixth, ending the inning on a double play.

An RBI double gave the Tornados an insurance run in the seventh and Toney worked around a leadoff hit by pitch in the bottom half of the inning to close out the game as CTX took the game 5-3.

In game two, the Tornados would score 13 runs in the first three innings on the way to a 20-1 win.

Seven Tornados had at least two hits on the day, including Bret Leiferman, who was a perfect 5-5 from the plate, with two triples, scoring four times and driving in a pair. Five players each had two RBIs as CTX scored in five of the seven innings.

Matthew Williams went five innings, giving up only a run on two hits, and striking out six Yellow Jackets. Dakota Brewton came on in the sixth, working two innings, allowing no hits and struck out three as the game ended on run rule.

The Tornados will be off next weekend before going on the road to face UT Dallas on April 11 at 2 p.m., the teams split the first two matchups earlier in the year, with CTX taking the most recent one 4-2 at Tornado Field.