AUSTIN, Texas –
Matthew Williams struck out a career-high 12 batters over six innings of work for his first win of the season to tie Chema Chavez for the program's career wins record as the No. 23 Concordia Texas baseball team knocked off La Verne 13-3 on Friday in the first day of the Concordia Classic.
Williams was nearly perfect through the game's first five innings, allowing only one walk and no hits, while striking out seven of the first 10 batters he faced.
The Austin, Texas native finished the night with 12 strikeouts over 6 innings, allowing only two runs on three hits.
It is the 27th win in Williams' career, tying him with Chavez (2001-04) for the school record in most wins in a career.
Meanwhile, Williams' 12 strikeouts gives him 243 for his career and is now sits only 49 punch outs away from breaking the school record for most strikeouts in a career set by Scott Berkman (2000-03)
The Tornados' bats did their job early on, providing Williams a lead after scoring a pair of runs in the second inning.
Grayson Lee's double into left scored
Owen Hill for the first run of the game, which was then followed by a
Ryan Clouse sac bunt to bring home
Marcus Thach and make it 2-0.
Concordia Texas added on a run in the following frame as
Bret Leiferman lined a double into the left field corner to score
Casen Novak, who led off the inning with a single.
Novak finished the day 3-for-5 from the plate with a run scored and two RBIs, while Leiferman had a three-hit night as well, driving in a run and scoring once.
Leiferman and Novak are both within reach of the program's all-hits record.
After Friday's game, Leiferman sits eight hits away from breaking the record, while Novak is not far behind his teammate, 14 hits away from setting a new record.
In the sixth, the Leopards broke up Williams' no-hitter and pushed across two runs in the inning, whittling CTX's lead down to a one-run advantage.
The Tornados were quick to respond, tacking on three runs in the sixth, before breaking the game open with a seven-run seventh.
Concordia Texas batted around in the seventh, scoring seven runs on four hits, highlighted by
Josh Burnett's bases-clearing three-run double.
Daniel Lewis,
Trey Toney and
Landon Aggas each tossed an inning after Williams' performance, allowing three runs on four hits as the Tornados scored a season-high 13 runs and cruised to a 13-3 win over La Verne.
Lee finished the night 1-for-3 from the plate with a pair of walks too, scoring three times and driving in a pair. Hill, meanwhile, did not record a hit, but registered three walks and scored twice.
Clouse had a strong performance at the plate too, tallying a pair of hits, driving in two runs and scoring once.
Concordia Texas will return to the field on Saturday when they host No. 3 Trinity at 3 p.m. in the second day of the Concordia Classic at Tornado Field.
