AUSTIN, Texas –
Matthew Williams and
Justin Traxler combined to toss nine innings, allowing only one run, as the Concordia Texas baseball team defeated UT Tyler 3-1 on Sunday to win the American Southwest Conference Blue Bracket and advance to the Gold Championships Series.
Williams, coming off a near complete game on Friday, would work into the fifth inning for the Tornados, allowing only a run on five hits while striking out two.
Concordia Texas would grab the early lead with a three-run third, putting two runners on with one out when
Reed Carlton singled into left to score
Casen Novak for the first run of the game.
After a walk to
Michael Evan to load the bases,
Caleb Rodriguez would bounce into a fielder's choice and two runs would score after an errant throw by the Patriots.
UT Tyler would threaten in the fifth though, loading the bases with nobody out.
Justin Traxler would come on in relief for Williams. After a sac fly made it 3-1, Traxler escaped out of the jam, inducing a fielder's choice and ending the inning with a strikeout.
Traxler would battle the rest of the way, allowing only four hits over the final four innings. In the ninth, after a leadoff single, Carlton would make a diving catch in the infield for the first out.
Concordia Texas would close out the game on a double play to secure the win and advance to the ASC Gold Championship Series, where they will take on UT Dallas.
For their performances throughout the tournament,
Jacob Gwynne, Novak, Evan and Williams were named to the All-Conference Team, while Traxler earned Most Valuable Player of the Blue Bracket.
The Tornados were forced to a winner-take-all game for the blue bracket championship after the Patriots won the first game of the day with a 15-2 victory.
Next up, CTX will face UT Dallas in the ASC Gold Championship series, a three-game matchup beginning on Thursday at 6 p.m. from Tornado Field. The winner will be crowned conference champions and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals.
