AUSTIN, Texas –
Carson Cox and
Bret Leiferman both hit homers and
Matthew Williams and
Michael Smith were fantastic on the hill as the Concordia Texas baseball team picked up 7-1 and 7-5 victories over UT Dallas on Friday at Tornado Field.
Cox finished the doubleheader 4-for-7 with four RBIs including the game-winning two-run home run to help the Tornados come back from down 4-0 to move to 19-6, 5-3 in American Southwest Conference play.
Owen Hill started the scoring for CTX in game one with a two-RBI single to bring home
Reed Carlton and
Jacob Gwynne to give the Tornados a lead they would not relinquish.
Leiferman, a junior out of Round Rock, Texas, made the score 3-0 in the third with his third home run of the season.
The Tornados broke the game open in the fourth when they tacked on four runs thanks to back-to-back-to-back RBI singles from
Casen Novak, Gywnne and Cox followed by a sacrifice fly from Carlton.
Williams (6-1), a junior from Hyde Park, Texas, picked up the win on the mound after tossing 6.0 innings, giving up seven hits, one earned run and striking out eight.
UT Dallas jumped ahead with four runs in the first thanks to five hits and a walk to take an early lead.
Collin Mask and Carlton started the comeback for CTX with single runs in the second and third innings thanks to an RBI single and a passed ball.
After the Comets extended the lead to 5-2 with a run in the top of the fourth, the Tornados responded once again, this time with two runs on a two-RBI double off the bat of Carlton.
With the score 5-4 in the fifth, Leiferman and Cox teamed up to tie the game when Leiferman ripped his school-record 13th triple of his career and was subsequently brought home on a sac fly from Cox.
After Smith put up his fourth consecutive zero on the hill, Cox provided the game-winning blast over the left field wall in the bottom of the eighth to give CTX a 7-5 lead.
Smith (2-0) closed the door in the ninth to pick up his second win of the season. The sophomore from Friendswood, Texas, threw a career-high 5.0 innings while allowing just two hits and fanning a career-best six batters.
The Tornados will look to complete the sweep of UT Dallas on Saturday as they play the series finale starting at 1:00 p.m. at Tornado Field.
