AUSTIN, Texas – Carson Cox racked up four hits while Bret Leiferman added three to help the Concordia Texas baseball begin the American Southwest Conference Tournament with an 11-1 run rule victory in eight innings over Sul Ross State on Thursday at Tornado Field.

The Tornados scored in every inning but the first and the sixth while also getting a fantastic performance from Matthew Williams on the hill to move to 30-10 on the season. It is the 11th time in school history CTX has won at least 30 games as well as the second time in the last three seasons.

Williams, a junior out of Austin, Texas, picked up his 11th win of the season on the hill after tossing 6.0 innings, allowing one run while scattering nine hits and striking out five. With the win, Williams is now tied for second in school history for most wins in a season (11) as well as tied for third for most wins in a career (24).

In the second inning, Cox got the scoring started when he ripped an RBI single to shortstop to bring home Leiferman. Cox then came across to score on an RBI sacrifice bunt off the bat of Marcus Thach.

Reed Carlton extended the lead to 3-0 in the third when he lifted a sacrifice fly to left field to score Casen Novak.

After Sul Ross cut the game to 3-1, the Tornados responded immediately in the bottom half of the fourth thanks to an RBI fielder's choice from Novak.

With the score 4-1 in the fifth, Cox delivered his first of two RBI triples on the night into the right-center field gap. He then jogged home on an RBI single off the bat of Owen Hill.

Thach and the Tornados broke the game open in the seventh by taking advantage of a pair of errors from the Lobos. With runners on first and second, Thach laid down a sacrifice bunt and was able to reach and advance all the way to third base on a throwing error by the catcher. Another error by the right fielder allowed Thach to race all the way home and make the score 9-1 heading into the eighth.

In the bottom of the eighth, Leiferman and Cox teamed up once again to end the game. After Leiferman singles with one away, Cox deposited his second RBI triple of the game over the center fielder's head. One pitch later, Cox came home on a wild pitch and clinched the run rule victory for CTX. Cox, a senior from Cotulla, Texas, finished the game 4-for-5 with two triples, three RBI and four runs scored.

The ASC Tournament will continue on Friday with a contest between East Texas Baptist and CTX beginning at 4:30 p.m. at Tornado Field. Sul Ross and Hardin-Simmons will face off in an elimination game beginning at 1:00 p.m. on Friday.