AUSTIN, Texas – The Concordia Texas baseball team suffered a pair of setbacks Saturday, first falling 4-3 to UT Tyler then dropping a 12-8 decision to UT Dallas, ending the Tornados' run in the ASC Blue Bracket Tournament on their home turf.
GAME 1 – UTT 4, CTX 3
UT Tyler's Braxton Hollingshead lead-off homer in the top of the ninth proved to be the difference in Saturday's first contest for the Tornados.
The Patriots' Sam Lane got his team on the board in the top of the first with a two-out RBI single to open up the ballgame.
CTX starter Josh Smith was able to avoid further trouble, however, and the Tornados entered the bottom of the first trailing 1-0.
Smith was the victim of hard luck in the losing effort, going the distance for Concordia, striking out 11 over nine frames, allowing four runs (two earned) on 10 hits and one walk.
After a groundout to start the bottom of the first, the Tornados had the next three batters reach base via a pair of UT Tyler errors and a hit batter, but Patriot starter Michael Blevins stranded all three.
The Patriots scratched two more runs across in the top of the third, taking advantage of two costly Tornado miscues.
Blevins carried a no-hitter into the bottom of the sixth before Michael Evan tagged Blevins for a one-out single. Evan would later come into score on an RBI double from Caleb Rodriguez, putting Concordia on the board.
UT Tyler went into its bullpen entering the top of the eighth and the Tornados got to business against reliever Chris Stodolka for two one-out walks. Stodolka made a quick exit in favor of Collin Belcher. Pinch-hitter Jake Valadez greeted the new Patriot hurler with an RBI single.
CTX would go on to load the bases, adding a run on the second UTT error of the frame. With the bases loaded and one out again, the Patriots went to the bullpen. Reese Read forced Adam Ortegato line into an inning-ending double play, thus ending the Tornado threat.
Concordia was retired in order in the ninth, forcing them to go on to face UT Dallas in an elimination game in the nightcap…
GAME TWO – UTD 12, CTX 8
Concordia scored four runs in the bottom of the first, but it wasn't enough to get past a UT Dallas squad that amassed an aggregate total of 26 runs on 36 hits Saturday in its two contests.
The Comets answered with four runs of their own in the top of the second. The 4-4 stalemate remained until the UTD third, when three came across. David McKenzie's two-run single capped the rally and made it a 7-4 contest in favor of the visitors.
UT Dallas opened up an 9-4 lead after an RBI single from Haden Johnson with two outs and in the fourth and on Jimmy Norris two-out RBI single in the fifth.
The Tornados started to chip away at the Comets' lead in the bottom half of the fourth, after Race Mellman doubled and later scored on a wild pitch.
CTX then made it a one-run contest with a three-run fifth, capped by Benyo's two-run double. The senior DH later scored on a heads-up base running play that unfortunately saw Mellman get caught in a rundown.
The Comets tallied a big insurance run in the top of the seventh after a two-out error allowed Josh Covey to reach. Covey later scored on a single by Tim Cole to make it 10-8. UTD scratched single runs in both the eighth and ninth.
Unfortunately, Concordia was victimized by a double play in the seventh after loading the bases with one down, ending the team's best shot to score in the final three frames.
UTD's Zach Bomer earned the win in a season-long 4 2/3 innings of relief, while Jake Valadez was tagged for the loss for CTX.
The Tornados will have to wait and see if they will receive an at-large berth to the NCAA Division III Regional playoffs on May 15, as they were fourth in the West Region entering the conference tournament. They otherwise end the 2016 campaign as the ASC regular season champions and a 28-15 overall record.