AUSTIN, Texas – The Concordia Texas softball team picked up 17 hits and 16 stolen bases on the day, cruising to a pair of wins in the series-opening doubleheader against Ozarks on Friday.
In the first game of the day, the Tornados put on an offensive clinic, pushing across six runs on nine hits and swiping eight bags along the way, coasting to a 6-0 victory.
Macey Thompson and
Ashley Hallmark each had a pair of RBI, and
Erica Riley picked up three base knocks in the contest.
Bailey Tisdale was dominant in the circle, allowing no runs on four hits and punching out eight in a complete game of work to earn the win.
The Tornados' offense was firing on all cylinders early on as they plated three runs on three hits in the first inning.
Megan Hooper led off the game, reaching base on a hit-by-pitch and stealing second, and Riley delivered an RBI single to put the Tornados on the board.
Emily Moses followed this up with a base knock of her own, setting up the two-RBI single from Thompson to give the Tornados a 3-0 lead after one.
After a quiet second frame, Riley got things started in the bottom of the third by doubling down the left field line before a fly out moved her to third. Next, Thompson reached base on a fielder's choice, putting runners at the corners for CTX, and Hallmark drove them both in with a two-RBI single. After three innings, the Tornados held a 5-0 advantage.
In the sixth inning, the Tornados tacked on an insurance run courtesy of an RBI single from the bat of Hooper and extended their lead to 7-0 heading into the final frame.
Tisdale slammed the door shut in the Eagles' final at-bat, retiring the side in order and completing the Tornados 6-0 rout of Ozarks in the first game of the day.
Cristina Ayala led the way in game two with a two-RBI performance thanks to RBI singles in back-to-back innings, and the Tornados took game two of the doubleheader 4-2.
Simone Langland earned her sixth win of the season in game two, suffering two runs on three hits and striking out three in 4.1 innings in the circle.
After two quiet innings to start, the Tornados opened the scoring by pushing across two runs on one hit in the third frame. Hooper led off by working a walk and stealing second and third, setting up an RBI single from Ayala, who followed with a pair of stolen bags to end up on third base.
Landrei Stafford capitalized on this opportunity, driving in Ayala with a sacrifice fly to put the Tornados ahead 2-0 after three innings.
Ozarks earned one of these runs back in the following frame, cutting the CTX lead in half to make it a 2-1 game.
The Tornados' offense answered in the bottom half of the inning, scratching across two more runs thanks to a sacrifice fly from Riley and Ayala's second RBI single of the game. The Tornados led 4-1 heading into the fifth inning.
The Eagles cut into the lead with a sacrifice fly in the top half of the fifth inning, making it a 4-2 game.
Lexi Bechtel tossed the final 2.2 innings of the game, suffering no runs on two hits and shutting down the Eagle's comeback hopes, and she picked up her second save of the season in a 4-2 Tornados victory.
Ayala and Hooper were active on the base paths, coming away with four and three stolen bases, respectively.
Concordia Texas will be back at Tornado Softball Field in Austin, Texas on Saturday to play the series finale against Ozarks at 12 p.m.
