RICHARDSON, Texas – The Concordia Texas baseball team secured a spot in the American Southwest Conference Tournament blue bracket finals after winning three straight games, but their magical tournament run ended when they fell to UT Dallas 6-9 in a back-and-forth battle on Saturday, bringing their season to a close.
 
The two teams traded runs throughout the game, but a three-run eighth inning from UTD broke a 6-6 tie, and the Tornados ultimately fell 9-6.
 
Owen Hill and Dalton Watts each picked up a pair of RBI in the game, and Easton Migl provided a solid 4.1 innings of work in relief, suffering only two runs and striking out three.
 
After a scoreless first frame, the Tornados put the first run on the board after Grayson Lee led off with a double to the right-center gap, moving to third on a UTD error and completing his trip around the bases on a sacrifice fly from Dalton Watts. Heading into the bottom half of the second, the Tornados led 1-0.
 
UT Dallas answered in the following frame, stringing together three hits and plating a pair of runs. With two innings complete, CTX trailed 2-1.
 
The Tornados jumped back out in front in the top of the third, scoring four runs on four hits and a pair of UTD errors. Casen Novak and EJ Sanchez led off the frame with back-to-back singles, setting up an RBI fielder's choice from Bret Leiferman. Next, a pair of UTD errors loaded the bases, and Hill came through with a two-RBI base knock. Watts followed with an RBI single of his own, putting the Tornados ahead 5-2 in the top of the third.
 
In the bottom half of the third, UT Dallas took the lead back with a four-run inning of their own as they put together four hits, including a two-run homerun. After three innings, CTX trailed 6-5.
 
The next few innings saw the score remain 6-5, but an RBI single from Corbin Cross evened the score in the sixth inning, bringing the score to 6-6.
 
With the score tied in the eighth, UT Dallas pulled away with a three-run inning. The Comets strung together four hits, including a two-RBI single, and took a 9-6 lead heading into the ninth.
 
The Tornados had one final chance for some ninth-inning magic, but three CTX hitters were retired in order and they fell to UT Dallas, 9-6.
 
Four CTX players, Colton Hunter, Otto Franz, Owen Hill, and Corbin Cross, were named to the Blue Bracket All-Tournament Team for their stellar performances throughout the weekend.
 
Concordia Texas ended the year with a solid 21-13 record, including a 13-9 record in ASC play, and reached their tenth straight ASC Tournament.  
 
The program will say goodbye to 16 seniors who have graduated this spring. These seniors are Brian Brenchley, Calvin Bush, Ryan Clouse, Nick Flores, Bret Leiferman, Daniel Lewis, Colton Hunter, Marcus Thach, Matthew Williams, Michael Smith, Trey Toney, Dalton Watts, Ian Perez, Noah Pendergrass, Casen Novak, and Owen Hill.
 
These seniors will leave some big shoes to fill, but the program has a wealth of young talent waiting in the ranks.