AUSTIN, Texas – The Concordia Texas softball team opened the weekend series with a doubleheader, falling in both games to Mary Hardin-Baylor Friday.
 
In game one, the Tornados fell 5-2 when a comeback effort was stopped short in the seventh inning, and game two ended in a 4-2 defeat despite being tied 2-2 headed into the seventh.
 
Caylee Spangle had three hits and a run scored on the day, and Ashley Hallmark picked up two hits, an RBI and a run scored.
 
In the opener, the Cru plated the first run of the day on a CTX error, taking a 1-0 lead.
 
The Tornados answered in the bottom half, as Spangle led off the frame with a single and eventually came around to score on a sacrifice fly from Hallmark. With one inning in the book, the score was even at 1-1.
 
The Cru regained the advantage in the top of the second, extending the lead to 3-1 on a two-RBI triple.
 
In the top of the fifth, UMHB added another with an RBI single, pushing the lead to 4-1.
 
The Cru added one more insurance run in the top of the sixth with an RBI single, and the Tornados trailed 5-1 through five and a half innings.
 
With one last chance for some offense in the seventh, the Tornados threatened the UMHB lead as Megan Hooper blasted a double and eventually scored on an errant throw from the catcher. However, this was all for CTX, and they ultimately fell 5-1.
 
In the nightcap, the Tornados received a stellar outing in the circle as Delaney Loosemore limited the Cru to three earned runs on six hits, but her effort was spoiled as CTX fell 4-2.
 
Mary Hardin-Baylor took an early lead in the game, plating two runs on two hits in the top of the first to take a 2-0 lead.
 
After a few quiet innings, the Tornados broke through for their first run in the bottom of the fourth. Myranda Billman, running for Erica Riley who reached on a walk, came home to score on RBI bunt single from Emily Schmuck, bringing the score to 2-1.
 
The Tornados evened the score in the next at-bat as a one-out double from Hallmark was followed by an RBI single from the bat of Riley, marking the score 2-2 heading into the sixth.
 
After a scoreless sixth inning, the Cru took the lead in the top of the seventh with a sacrifice fly and an RBI double. Heading into the bottom of seventh, the Tornados trailed 4-2.
 
Spangle picked up a one-out knock in the seventh, but that was all as CTX fell 4-2.
 
The Tornados will look to salvage a win from the series in game three, set for a 12 p.m. first pitch from Tornado Softball Field on Saturday.