AUSTIN, Texas – McMurry University Baseball led Concordia Texas after six innings on Saturday in Austin, but could not hold on as the Tornados strung together 11 late runs to win 15-6 in the rubber match of a three-game American Southwest Conference series.

The War Hawks (8-17, 5-13 ASC) took a 4-2 lead after falling behind in the first inning and later added two more in the sixth inning to take 6-3 lead. Concordia Texas (11-7, 9-6 ASC) added one in the sixth to pull within two, but blew the game open with seven runs in the seventh and four in the eighth to win the game and series.

McMurry had 10 hits on the with the top six in the lineup all recording hits.

Senior leadoff hitter Javier Rosa set a new career high with four hits on the day, finishing 4-for-5 with a run and an RBI single. He also added a stolen base. Freshman Josh De La Rosa added two hits, while Mike Gonzales and Nick Hamel each added a double.

Seniors Ryan Potter and Sam Hillyer also had one hit each.

Trailing 2-0 after the first inning, McMurry answered with a four-run third inning that started with an RBI double by Gonzales. With Gonzales on second and Rosa on third, Hamel followed his senior teammate with a double of his own, scoring both runners to make it a 3-2 lead. Hillyer then singled home Hamel to extend the lead.

CTX used a sacrifice fly to make it 4-3, but Rosa came through with another RBI single resulting in two runs. This left starting pitcher Kaden Sebastian ahead after 5.0 innings, as allowed three runs with six hits, no walks and two strikeouts.

Matthew Bass pitched the sixth and allowed one run on a wild pitch, but kept the War Hawks ahead. Three others split the final two innings with six of the final 11 runs being earned.

Pitchers of record:
W – Otto Franz (1-0)
L – Marty Carnahan (1-2)
 
On deck:
McMurry will play its second of three midweek games against UT Dallas on Tuesday, April 13 at 2 p.m. in Richardson, Texas.