ALPINE, Texas – Eight different Tornados had a multi-hit game as the Concordia Texas baseball team totaled an impressive 21 hits and secured a series win by taking game three against Sul Ross State 18-7 on Saturday.
 
The Tornados' offense fired on all cylinders in the game, highlighted by a five-hit, four-RBI performance from Brett Leiferman which included a three-run big fly. Brandon Goynes put together an impressive two-for-four game at the plate, including a huge grand slam in the sixth.   
 
Michael Smith earned the win on the mound for CTX, suffering four runs on four hits and striking out four over five innings of work in relief.
 
The Tornados' offense produced early, as a two-RBI single from Corbin Cross gave CTX an early 2-0 lead in the top half of the first inning.
 
The Lobos answered in the bottom half of the inning, tying the game on a two-run homerun, and the score was even at 2-2 after one inning of play.
 
Dalton Watts led off the second inning with a double to left center and Marcus Thach followed with an infield single, setting up a two-RBI single off the bat of Mason Dubois. Casen Novak and Leiferman followed with back-to-back RBI singles, and the Tornados took a 6-2 lead midway through the second inning.
 
After a few quiet innings, Leiferman broke the game wide open when he belted a three-run homerun over the left field wall in the top of the fourth. Grayson Lee singled on the next pitch of the game, eventually coming around to score on an RBI single from Watts. Heading into the fifth inning, CTX held a 10-2 advantage.
 
In the fifth inning, Ryan Clouse reached base on a hit-by-pitch to lead off the frame, and back-to-back one-out singles from Novak and Leiferman loaded the bases, Clouse eventually scoring on a sacrifice fly from Lee. Next, Novak scampered home on a passed ball, and the Tornados led 12-2.
 
In the bottom half of the inning, a two-run blast from SRSU cut into the deficit, bringing the score to 12-4 in favor of CTX.
 
Back-to-back one-out singles from Thach and Dubois followed by a walk from Clouse loaded the bases in the top of the sixth, and Goynes took the opportunity to crush a grand slam over the wall in left center field. With five and a half innings in the book, the Tornados led 16-4.
 
In the bottom of the seventh, Sul Ross St. narrowed the deficit with a three-run homerun, making it a 16-7 game heading into the eighth.
 
A pair of RBI hits from Lee and Cross in the eighth added two runs to the CTX total, and Otto Franz retired the side in order in the bottom half of the inning to secure an early run-rule victory. The Tornados took the decisive game three in eight innings by a score of 18-7.
 
Franz threw the final two innings of the game, suffering only one run on one hit and punching out three SRSU batters.
 
With the pair of wins on the weekend, the Tornados advance to a record of 14-9, 11-7 ASC, in a good position to vault up the ASC standings down the stretch of the regular season.
 
The Tornados will return home on Friday, hosting ASC foe Howard Payne in a three-game set at Tornado Field in Austin, Texas, starting with a single game at 7 p.m.