GAME ONE BOX SCORE

GAME TWO BOX SCORE

San Antonio, Texas – Teylor Schiefelbein, who was making her collegiate debut, had a key two-run single in the opener and picked up the victory in the circle of the nightcap to lead the Concordia University Texas softball team to a doubleheader sweep of Trinity on Sunday, Feb. 13 at Jesse H. Jones Field. The Tornados won game one, 9-1, in six innings before taking the nightcap by a 6-3 score.

“It's a great feeling for us to start our season off with a bang,” said Denise Lira, who was making her head coaching debut at Concordia after serving as an assistant at Mary Hardin-Baylor for several seasons. “We want to keep on improving, and we feel we have a solid team to do that.”

Concordia got on the board first in game two thanks to Erin Duhon's sacrifice fly to right that plated Vicky Recek in the opening frame. Trinity, however, responded by taking advantage of two infield errors to score three unearned runs in the bottom of the third.

The Tornados shook off the defensive miscues and tied the game at 3-3 in the fifth. Schiefelbein hit a leadoff single to third and was sacrificed over to second by Lauren Vansickle. Jessica Rattan then came through by clubbing the team's first home run of the season over the wall in left.

With the game still deadlocked at three heading into the final inning, Concordia was disciplined at the plate and got the clutch hitting it needed to pull away. Recek doubled and reached third on a sacrifice bunt by Schiefelbein. After Vansickle reached on a fielder's choice and Rattan drew a walk to load the bases, Duhon singled to center to plate Recek for the go-ahead run. Meghan Ferrell and Alex Smith added insurance runs by earning a free pass to first and singling, respectively, to make it 6-3 before Schiefelbein got out of the bottom of the inning unscathed to help seal the come-from-behind win.

“Teylor did a really outstanding job as a freshman coming in and pitching her first game,” stated Lira on Schiefelbein, who did not give up an earned run in her Tornado debut in the circle. “Even though we didn't back her up at times on defense, she was still able to hold off a lot of their better hitters.”

Schiefelbein threw all seven innings and yielded four hits and three runs which were all unearned. She fanned four and only issued two walks to start the season with a 1-0 ledger. Colbie Devost dropped to 1-1 on the spring after giving up nine hits and six runs, which were all earned, in seven innings of work. Devost walked six Tornado hitters and only struck out two.

After Trinity (2-2) plated the first run in the bottom of the first of the opener on a Megan Russell double, Concordia seized control for the rest of the way by scoring five times in the top of the second. Kat Moreno tied the game on a single to score Rattan, who singled to third to start the inning, before Recek reached on an error by the second baseman that sent Ferrell and Moreno home three batters later. Schiefelbein's first career hit on a single to center that scored Recek and Jordan Berry gave the Tornados insurance and a 5-1 lead.

After putting together four hits to plate five runs in the second, the Tornados padded their lead by scoring twice in the third. Moreno found a gap in left center for an RBI double and scored on the next play courtesy of a Ferrell single.

Smith's RBI double in the fifth and Rattan's run scored on a wild pitch in the sixth extended the Tornado lead to eight runs. Trinity got its second hit on a single by Brooke Sanchez, but Moreno responded by inducing a groundout and fanning Kayleigh Kinlaw to end the game after six due to the eight-run rule.

Moreno went the distance and earned the victory to start the season 1-0 after allowing only two hits and one run which was earned. The Concordia sophomore registered six strikeouts and only issued two walks. Trinity's Sydney Friday was tagged with the loss and dropped to 1-1 on the young season. She yielded 11 hits and nine runs, including five earned. She walked four and fanned two.

“We had a solid defense behind Kat in the first game, and the bats also came alive," added Lira. "We did a really good job (in all phases of the game) to get the victory.”

Concordia (2-0) will host Trinity in another doubleheader at Westwood High School on Saturday, Feb. 19 with the first game beginning at 4 p.m.
-agate-
Concordia                052     011     9    11    0
Trinity                        100     000     1     2     1
(Game ended after six innings due to eight-run rule)
     Concordia: Kat Moreno and Alex Smith.
     Trinity: Sydney Friday and Becca Rush.

Concordia (2-0)      100     020     3     6     9     4
Trinity (2-2)               003    000     0     3     4     0
     Concordia: Teylor Schiefelbein and Alex Smith.
     Trinity: Colbie Devost and Becca Rush.