AUSTIN — The Southwestern baseball team suffered control issues in key situations during a 9-6 loss to Concordia, getting swept by the Tornados in today's doubleheader.
Five different pitchers made appearances for Southwestern, combining to walk 10 hitters and hit six others, accounting for nine runs on just five hits.
Bryce Debbs put the Pirates on the board in the top of the first inning from the cleanup spot. After a Ted Lobkowicz strikeout, Kyle Porter and Daniel Montgomery Jr. reached on back-to-back walks, then advanced to second and third on a passed ball. Debbs capitalized with a sacrifice fly to right field, continuing a recent run of productive games, driving in eight RBIs in the past six games.
Concordia scored three runs on a single hit in the bottom of the second. EJ Sanchez started the inning with a walk, then Shawn Huber was hit by a pitched. Mason Dubois laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third, then Ian Perez went down swinging. A pitch hit Chris Varljen to load the bases, and Casen Novak cleared them with a three-RBI double to right-center.
Another walk in the bottom of the third inning gave way to another run with Grayson Lee's RBI single up the middle.
The Pirates cut the deficit in half at 4-2 in the top of the fourth, taking advantage of two walks and a fielding error to score on Porter's fielder's choice RBI. Control issues surfaced for the Pirates in the bottom of the inning, walking the first two batters, hitting the third, then giving up a run on a wild pitch. Lee brought in another run on a groundout to second, then Sanchez added a third on an RBI single to left field.
Debbs led off the top of the fifth with a single to center, stole second, advanced to third on a passed ball, then scored on a wild pitch. But he was the only Pirate to reach safely in the inning.
The Pirates surrendered a one-out single in the top of the fifth, struck out the third hitter, then walked back-to-back hitters to load the bases, and then hit two Tornados to bring in two runs.
Southwestern hit two home runs in the top of the sixth to pull within three. Hayden Craig hit a solo blast to start the inning, then Debbs hit a two-run homer with two outs.
Debbs was 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Ryan Baranowski and Craig each had one hit for the Pirates. Five different Concordia players had one hit.
Southwestern dropped to 18-17 with the two losses. Concordia improves to 18-10. The Pirates will close out the regular season with a three-game home series against Trinity this weekend.