AUSTIN, Texas – The Concordia Texas baseball team rebounded from a disappointing doubleheader to open the three-game set, breaking out the bats and taking the series finale 9-7 over Belhaven on Saturday.
The Tornados found the offense in game three with 13 hits, five of them for extra bases, and nine runs, outlasting Belhaven in a game that saw both teams jockeying for the lead.
Dalton Watts highlighted the CTX bats, going 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs, and
Jayden Hernandez blasted a double and a triple, scoring two runs and driving in one.
The Blazers were the first team on the board, plating two runs on a hit and a CTX error in the opening frame to take a 2-0 lead.
The Tornados provided the answer in the bottom of the second. They loaded the bases thanks to singles from
Otto Franz and
Riley Becker with a walk from
EJ Sanchez in between, and back-to-back walks from
Aaron Gomez and Watts brought home two runs. After two innings, the score was even at 2-2.
In the following frame, a bases-clearing double put Belhaven back in the lead at 5-2.
Concordia Texas answered in the bottom half, pushing four runs across and taking the lead.
Grayson Lee belted a leadoff triple and came home to score on a passed ball, plating the first run of the inning, and an RBI double from Franz added another to the board. Hernandez followed with a walk and Becker beat out an infield single, loading the bases for an RBI from Gomez. Finally, Watts gave the Tornados a 6-5 lead, poking an RBI single up the middle to bring Hernandez home.
In the top of the fourth, a wild pitch brought a Belhaven run across, evening the score at 6-6.
Kalen Moreno led off the bottom half with a double down the line, igniting another big inning for CTX, and an RBI single from
EJ Sanchez brought him home. Next, Hernandez legged out an RBI triple, scoring Sanchez, and a squeeze bunt from Becker made it 9-6 in favor of the Tornados heading into the fifth inning.
The final run of the game came in the top of the fifth as Belhaven scratched one across on a sacrifice fly. After four and a half innings, the Tornados led 9-7.
Noah Pendergrass handled the pitching duties from the fourth inning until there were two outs in the sixth, totaling 2.2 innings and striking out six to earn the win. He handed the ball over to
Easton Migl, who dominated the final 3.1 innings. Migl struck out seven and allowed only one hit in the outing, earning the save and sealing the 9-7 Tornados' victory.
After the three-game series, the Tornados sit at a 5-4 record overall and in conference play.
Concordia Texas will be back in action on Friday, playing the first game of a three-game set at UT Dallas in Richardson, Texas at 2 p.m.
