AUSTIN, Texas – The Concordia Texas baseball team split a doubleheader against McMurry to earn a 2-1 series win Saturday at Tornado Field and remain at the top of the American Southwest Conference standings.
The Tornados won game one in walk-off fashion 4-3 before dropping a close 9-8 decision in game two to move to 14-7, 7-2 ASC.
In game one of the doubleheader, CTX got a stellar pitching performance from
Matthew Williams, and
Michael Evan was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring home the winning run for the Tornados' second walk-off win of the year.
Williams, a sophomore from Austin, Texas, retired the first 15 hitters he faced and finished the game throwing 5.1 innings, allowing four hits, three runs and striking out five.
CTX struck first with two runs in the second inning thanks to an RBI single from
Ryan Clouse and an RBI double off the bat of
Clarence Guidry III.
Guidry, a junior out of Pflugerville, Texas, struck once again in the fourth with an RBI single up the middle. He finished game one 3-for-3 with two RBIs.
McMurry scored all three of their runs in the fifth thanks to five straight singles to tie the game at three.
In the seventh, the Tornados were able to load the bases on a hit by pitch and two walks before Evan took a pitch to give CTX the 4-3 win.
Game two of the doubleheader began much like the first one, with the Tornados jumping out to an early lead.
Jacob Stegent brought home the first run on a squeeze bunt play in the third and CTX added three in the fourth on a two-RBI single by
Alex Britz and an error.
The War Hawks did not go away quietly, however, as they put a nine spot on the scoreboard in the fifth inning. They racked up five hits in the inning and took advantage of five walks from Concordia pitching as well as an error.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Tornados got a run back on a wild pitch and then tacked on three in the sixth on an RBI groundout from Stegent and a two-RBI single from Guidry to cut the lead to 9-8.
CTX could not muster up anything else, however, as they managed just one hit in the final three innings and fell by one.
Next up, the Tornados will travel to Abilene, Texas, for a three-game set against Hardin-Simmons starting Friday night at 7:00 p.m. at Hunter Field.
