AUSTIN, Texas – The Concordia Baseball team used a five-run eighth to rally past Hardin-Simmons, in a four-hour game, winning 11-8 on Friday night.

The teams used a combined 13 pitchers, issuing 14 walks, and had a combined 24 hits between each other as each team scored five runs in the eighth.

Bret Leiferman led the way for the Tornados with three hits, scoring twice while also driving in a pair of runs. Matthew Williams had a strong outing, pitching six innings, allowing only three runs on five hits but settled for the no decision.

CTX led 3-0 after the first three frames, and added on in the fifth and sixth to lead the Cowboys 6-3 after playing six innings.

In the eighth, the Tornados used four pitchers in the inning as HSU batted around and grabbed an 8-6 lead taking advantage of a pair of errors by CTX.

In the bottom half of the inning, responded with their own five-run eighth inning as the first four Tornados reached base to start the inning. Landon Lau would bring in the go-ahead with an infield single to make it 9-8. CTX would add two more runs on a Caleb Maddox RBI single and a Cowboys error home Lau push the lead to 11-5.

Ryan Capel, who came on in relief in the eighth, loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth. Capel would force the ground out to third though to end the game and earn the win.

The Tornados will celebrate senior day and the jersey retirement of former baseball coach Mike Gardner between the doubleheader games against Hardin-Simmons, which will start at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Before Friday's game, CTX was happy to have Kaitlyn Jankovsky, a survivor of leukemia, throw out the first pitch to Tornados outfielder Race Mellman.