AUSTIN, Texas – Daniel Montgomery Jr. scored on a wild pitch in the top of the 12th inning, giving the Pirates the go-ahead run in Southwestern University Pirates baseball's 6-5 victory over the Concordia Tornados.
The game went scoreless through four innings before Chase Thinger put the Pirates on the board, reaching on a throwing error to score Seth Sparks, who reached on a leadoff single in the top of the fifth.
Concordia answered immediately with three runs on three hits in the bottom of the inning, getting an RBI-single through left side with two outs and bases loaded followed by an Owen Hill walk. Lee Grayson punctuated the scoring burst with a sacrifice fly to left field to give Concordia a 3-1 lead.
Southwestern tied the game in the top of the sixth on a two-RBI triple to center field, scoring Byron Dowdell II and Jacob Tanner, who was pinch running for Preston Witt. The Pirates took a 5-3 lead in the top of the seventh on Montgomery's RBI-single to left field and RBI-single to center field from Byron Dowdell II.
Concordia came back to tie the game, plating a single run in the eighth and ninth innings, scoring on a double steal with runners on the corners in the eighth and a RBI-single to right field from Hill in the ninth.
Montgomery opened the top of the 12th inning by reaching on a throwing error from third base. After two groundouts advanced Montgomery to third base, the Pirates' preseason All-American scored on a wild pitch to give the Pirates the lead.
Concordia opened the bottom of the inning with two consecutive groundouts followed by back-to-back singles before Dakota Limon grounded out to first to end the game.
Hayden Craig and Montgomery each went 2-for-6 in the top two spots in the lineup with Craig scoring once and Montgomery scoring twice with an RBI. Dowdell was 3-for-6 with an RBI and run scored and Seth Sparks was 2-for-5 with a run scored.
The Pirates went through six pitchers in the mid-week game, getting the season debut from reigning SCAC Pitcher of the Year Austin Smith, who started and went one scoreless tune-up inning with a strikeout and walk.
John Sparks followed with three innings, striking out five and walking three, giving up two earned runs on two hits. Luke Richards, Aaron Clark, and Landon Durdin closed the game out over the final 7.2 innings, combining to strikeout 12 with Durdin picking up the win, closing the final three innings by giving up only two hits and no walks or runs with three strikeouts.
With the win, the Pirates improve to 3-2 on the season, including 1-1 on the road. Southwestern will travel to Jackson, Mississippi this weekend to compete in the Millsaps College Classic from Friday, Feb. 28 through Sunday, March 1 with games against Millikin, Adrian, and Millsaps.
For more SU Pirate photos, please see Carlos Barron Photography