ALPINE, Texas –
Reed Carlton hit a game winning three-run homer and Taylor Barskdale gave up just two hits over 5.0 innings as the Concordia Texas baseball team picked up a 4-2 win in game one before falling in game two 14-10 Saturday against Sul Ross State at Kokernot Field.
Despite the loss in the second game of the day, the Tornados still clinched a series victory and moved to 21-9, 7-5 in the American Southwest Conference.
In the first game of the day, CTX went ahead in the top of the fourth after a one-out double from
Bret Leiferman and an RBI single off the bat of
Jacob Stegent.
The Lobos took the lead for the first time in the series in the bottom half of the fourth on a two-out double to make the score 2-1, the Tornados answered with a three spot in the top of the fifth.
Jacob Gywnne started the two-out rally with a walk and moved to second on a single off the bat of
Owen Hill. With two on and two outs, Carlton lifted the first pitch he saw over the left field wall to give the Tornados a 4-2 lead.
It was Carlton's first home run of the season while moving his season RBI count to a team-best 25 this season.
Barksdale (4-1) picked up the win on the hill and was tremendous for the Tornados throughout the contest. The junior from Burnet, Texas, gave up just two runs on two hits over a career-high 5.0 innings while also setting a season-high in strikeouts with seven.
Coming on in relief in the sixth,
Calvin Bush earned his third save on the hill after tossing the final 2.0 innings and striking out five of the eight batters he faced.
The combination of Barskdale and Bush teamed up to allow just two hits, two runs and strike out a total of 12 in just 7.0 innings of work on the mound.
Cox put the Tornados on the board first in game number two with a solo homer in the top half of the first.
Sul Ross scored two runs in the bottom of the second, three in the third and two more in the fifth to take a 7-1 lead going into the sixth inning.
Tanner Gibson cut the deficit to four with a two-RBI double down the left field line to bring home Hill and Leiferman in the sixth.
The Lobos answered again, however, with three runs in the bottom half of the inning to make the score 10-3.
After Hill added another for the Tornados on an RBI single in the seventh, SRSU ballooned the lead to eight with a pair of runs in the bottom half.
The Tornados did not go down without a fight, though, scoring four runs in the eighth inning highlighted by an RBI single from Cox and a three-run homer by Leiferman.
With the score 14-8 heading into the final frame, CTX again showed fight with a pair of runs but could not complete the comeback as they fell 14-10.
Leiferman, a junior out of Round Rock, Texas, finished the doubleheader 5-for-8 with three RBIs and three runs scored.
Next up, CTX will return to Tornado Field for another ASC matchup with a three game set against Belhaven beginning on Friday with a doubleheader at 4:00 p.m.
