'Roos Fall to No. 25 Concordia

AUSTIN, Texas - The Austin College baseball team battled No. 25-ranked Concordia-Texas in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference series opener between the two squads on Friday evening, but the 'Roos came up short in a 4-1 road defeat. The 'Roos are now 9-17 overall and 6-13 in conference play.

The Tornados wasted little time getting on the board, as Kalen Clark belted a solo homer in the bottom of the first to make it 1-0, but that's how things would stand until the fifth inning. Concordia pushed two more runs across in the bottom of the fifth to make it a 3-0 game, and the margin grew to 4-0 in the sixth on an RBI single by Landon Hyle. Austin College got one run back in the top of the seventh when Greg Smith brought home Mason Woodhouse to cut it to a 4-1 game, but the 'Roos were unable to rally in the last two innings of action.

Trystan Mallory went the distance on the bump for Austin College to take the loss, giving up four runs on seven hits with four strikeouts in the complete game effort. Otto Franz got the win for Concordia, surrendering one run on four hits with seven strikeouts in 8.0 innings, while Ralph Wallace III got the save. Jayden Ayala-Hinojosa went 2-for-4 to lead Austin College at the plate, and RayShawn Riley and Ashton Cason had a hit apiece. Clark was 2-for-4 to pace the Tornados.

Austin College and Concordia will be back on the diamond on Saturday for a doubleheader, with game one scheduled to begin at noon.