JACKSON, Miss. – Bailey Tisdale struck out seven hitters, but the Concordia Texas softball team only amounted three hits, falling to Belhaven 9-2 on Friday in the series opener.

The Tornados continued their road trip after a three-game set in Alpine, Texas last week, facing reigning American Southwest Conference East Division champions Blazers.

Tisdale was locked in early on, working around a walk and a single in the opening inning to strikeout the side and keep the game scoreless.

She followed with three more strikeouts in the following frame, but the Blazers scratched across a run to take a 1-0 lead.

Belhaven broke the game open in the third though, batting around to score five runs and extend their lead to 6-0 after three frames.

Concordia Texas countered in the fourth inning, pushing across a pair of runs. Riley led off with a walk and one out later Kylie Woods reached on a fielder's choice, putting two runners on for Emily Moses. Moses scored both runs, hitting an RBI single into center and cutting the deficit to 6-2.

The Blazers responded with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning and added another run in the fifth, pushing their advantage to 9-2.

In the seventh, Moses reached on a BU error, but Emily Schmuck and Ashley Soto were retired in order to end the game as the Tornados fell 9-2.

Cristina Ayala and Ashley Hallmark each finished the day with 1-for-3 performances, both recording a double for the day.

Concordia Texas will look to bounce back and go for the series win on Saturday, taking on the Blazers in a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m. at McLeod Field in Jackson, Miss.