SEGUIN, Texas – In a winner-take-all game, the Concordia Texas baseball team came from behind, scoring two runs in eighth and ninth innings as
Casen Novak provided the game-winning hit, defeating Franklin 6-4 to win the Seguin Regional Championship on Sunday at Katt-Isbel Field and advance to the NCAA Super Regionals.
It is only the second time in program history, and first time since 2002 that the Tornados have advanced pass the regional round.
After
Matthew Williams tossed only the second no-hitter in school history on Saturday, CTX entered the day needing only one win over the Grizzlies.
In the first game, Franklin would jump out to a 2-0 lead and never look back, winning it 13-4 to force a decisive winner-take-all regional championship game.
The Tornados struck first in the second inning. After
Jacob Stegent's one-out double, he would score on a Franklin wild pitch to make it 1-0.
Concordia Texas added to their lead with another run in the fourth, taking advantage of another wild pitch, scoring
Carson Cox.
The Grizzlies responded though in the bottom half of the frame, taking advantage of a couple of Tornados' errors to score three runs and go on top 3-2 after four frames. Franklin tacked on another run in the fifth on a sac fly to center to push their advantage to 4-2.
Three innings later, CTX's bats came alive. After a hit by pitch, a walk and a wild pitch, the Tornados had runners in scoring position with no outs. They would cut the deficit in half on
Reed Carlton's RBI infield single. Cox followed with a RBI sac bunt to tie the game up at four-all.
In the ninth, CTX continued their comeback.
Ryan Clouse led off with a single. After a sac bunt, Novak came through with a go-ahead RBI single to left-center, scoring
Marcus Thach. One batter later, Carlton reached on a fielder's choice, scoring Novak and pushing the Tornados' lead to 6-4.
In the bottom half of the frame, after a leadoff walk,
Calvin Bush came on in relief of
Michael Smith.
Bush, who picked up his sixth win of the season on Friday, struck out the first two batters he faced. A walk and a wild pitch later, with the go-head run at the plate, Bush induced a ground out to third to close out the game and secure the Tornados' first-ever NCAA Super Regional appearance.
Smith picked up his eighth win of the season, tossing 4.2 innings in relief of
Noah Pendergrass, striking out six and allowing only two hits. Bush, meanwhile, earned his four save of the year.
Bret Leiferman finished 3-for-4 from the plate with a walk and scored a run, while Carlton had two hits and two RBIs in the win.
Bush, Smith, Novak, Leiferman and
Owen Hill were all named to the Segiun Regional All-Tournament Team, while Williams earned Most Outstanding Player honors.
Concordia Texas clinches its second-ever regional championship and advance past the regional round for the first time since 2002 when the Tornados reached the NCAA D-III College World Series.
The Tornados will now face the winner of the other west regional bracket, Chapman, in a best-of-three series beginning on Friday in Orange, Calif.
