BOX SCORE

Austin, Texas – Sophomore pitcher Colin Butschek went the distance and registered seven strikeouts without issuing any walks as the Concordia University Texas baseball team defeated Howard Payne, 8-2, in the American Southwest Conference West Division opener on Friday, March 11 at Tornado Field.

Howard Payne (3-8, ASC 0-1) took an early 1-0 lead when Hannontree reached on an infield single, stole second and scored two plays later on a single by Ben Butler. But Butschek recovered by forcing the next hitter to ground into a fielder's choice to end the inning.

Concordia (9-7, ASC 1-0) took the lead for good by pushing across three runs in the bottom of the first. After Collin Janssen drew a walk to load the bases with only one out, Robert Brown hit a sacrifice fly to deep center to plate Brent Schaekel. Two more runs came home on the next play courtesy of a Bucky Bryant single through the left side.

With Butschek in control on the mound, the Tornados were able to add one run in the second, fifth and seventh frames to go ahead by a 6-1 score. Gommert had a sacrifice fly and an RBI single to pace the Tornado offense during the stretch.

The Yellow Jackets were able to trim the deficit to four by scoring in the eighth, but the Tornados were able to close the door in the bottom half of the frame. Collin Janssen singled to short and moved into scoring position by stealing a base. Kyle Bieschke, who entered the game in the seventh as a defensive replacement for Bryant, then hit a bomb to left for his first home run of the season to put the game away.

Butschek improved to 3-1 on the season by earning the victory for Concordia. He fanned seven and did not issue a walk for the second straight start while allowing two runs, which were both earned, and nine hits. Howard Payne's Jonathan Morris suffered the defeat and dropped to 0-2. He yielded seven hits and six runs, including three that were earned, and fanned six.

Concordia and Howard Payne will play a doubleheader on Saturday, March 12 with the first game beginning at 1:00 p.m.
-agate-
Howard Payne (3-8, ASC 0-1)     100     000     010     2     9     2
Concordia (9-7, ASC 1-0)             310     010     12x     8     9     0
     Howard Payne: Jonathan Morris, Robert Anders (8) and Kevin Young.
     Concordia: Colin Butschek and Collin Janssen.