AUSTIN, Texas - The Concordia Texas baseball clinched a spot in the SCAC Tournament with a pair of victories over Texas Lutheran. The Tornados tied a program record with six homers in game one. Aaron Gomez also made history in game one as he tied the program's record for most doubles in a single game with three. Landon Hyle powered his first career grand slam in game two, while Colby Christian homered twice at Gardner-Boggs Field on Thursday.
GAME ONE: W, 13-3 (7 Innings)
The Tornados got started early in the first inning with a leadoff triple by Zach Seigrist and Gomez's homer to right field. Christian & Brayden Pick would then make it 4-0 with back-to-back solo shots.
Keeping up the momentum in the second, Seigrist powered a leadoff homer. Gomez followed that with a double that was a foot away from his second homer. Kalen Clark would then tally a RBI-double to score Gomez. Making it 7-0 was Christian with a homerun to centerfield, and Eric Garcia would put the Tornados up 8-0 by capitalizing on a wild pitch.
The Bulldogs got on the scoreboard in the fourth with three runs, but CTX responded in the bottom of the frame with a Carson Riley RBI-single to bring home Pick. Gomez would then tally a two-RBI double, scoring Hyle & Riley to make it 11-3 going into the fifth.
Towering another solo homer and making it 12-3 in the fifth was Christian. Putting on the finishing touches was Riley with the final homer of the game in the sixth as Otto Franz would earn the complete game victory and the Tornados claimed the run-rule victory.
GAME TWO: W, 9-3
The Bulldogs would load the bases as the first three hitters would get on in the first. The Tornados would escape the frame and only allow one run thanks to a double play and strikeout from Dakota Palmer (8 IP, 8 Ks, career-high 130 pitches).
CTX would answer in the bottom of the first by also juicing the bases. Pick would then bring Seigrist home with a RBI-walk. Giving Concordia the lead would be Hyle with a sac fly, scoring Gomez. With runners on the corners, Matthew Armes then made it 3-1 with a RBI-single into right to score Christian.
TLU tacked on one run in the second & another in the fourth to knot the game up at 3-all. The Tornados reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the fourth when a Gomez RBI-single escorted Seigrist home. Hyle would then break the game open with his grand slam for an 8-3 advantage heading into the fifth.
Both teams would go scoreless over the next two and half innings, until Hyle added an insurance run & scored Clark with a RBI-groundout in the eighth. That would be the final run of the evening as CTX would earn the series victory.
Concordia Texas & Texas Lutheran will finish up the series with game three tomorrow. First pitch is set for 1pm.
To keep up to date with everything surrounding the CTX baseball program, follow us on social media (@ctxathletics) and visit athletics.concordia.edu.
