LONGVIEW, Texas – The Concordia Texas baseball team opened the weekend series with LeTourneau, dropping game one of the three-game set 4-2 on Saturday.
 
The Tornados mounted a comeback with a two-run eighth inning, but ultimately it was too late, and they were unable to completely close the LETU advantage.
 
Shawn Huber went 3-for-3 with an RBI at the plate, and Otto Franz picked up an RBI as well.
 
The Tornados received a pair of solid performances on the mound, beginning with the starter, Noah Pendergrass. Pendergrass tossed the first three innings, striking out two and allowing no earned runs. Colton Hunter followed him in relief, throwing five innings of two-run baseball with five strikeouts along the way.
 
LeTourneau broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the third, taking a 2-0 lead with a two-RBI double.
 
With the game locked in a pitcher's duel with Hunter on the mound, the score remained still through the sixth inning.
 
In the seventh inning, LeTourneau added two more to the total, pushing the lead to 4-0.  
 
Huber and Franz delivered back-to-back RBI base knocks in the bottom of the seventh, scoring Aaron Gomez and Dalton Watts to cut into the LETU advantage. Heading into the ninth, the Tornados trailed 4-2.
 
In the ninth inning, Ian Perez recorded a hit and Christian Padilla reach base by a hit-by-pitch, but two quick outs followed. Ultimatley, the Tornados fell 4-2.
 
With game one behind them, the Tornados will return to the field with a chance to win the series. The two teams will continue the three-game set with a Saturday doubleheader, beginning with the first game at 1 p.m.