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Richardson, Texas – The Concordia University Texas baseball team, which has won four straight postseason games, will battle host Texas-Dallas for the American Southwest Conference championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament today beginning at 1 p.m. on the UTD Baseball Field. Tornado fans can listen to a free live audio broadcast with Sports Information Director Matthew Chmura calling all of the action, while the ASC will provide live video for free as well.

Concordia (29-15), which was initially picked to finish sixth among eight schools in the American Southwest Conference West Division Preseason Poll after winning just 15 games in 2010, clinched a share of the ASC West Division title with Hardin-Simmons. The team has relied on stellar pitching and defense to win its first two games. The Tornados opened the tournament with a 1-0 victory over McMurry on Friday and jumped out to an early 7-0 advantage against Texas-Dallas before beating the Comets by an 8-3 decision yesterday to advance to today's championship.

Pitchers Colin Butschek, Ryan Ullmann and Pedro Maldonado have combined for a 1.50 ERA while holding opposing hitters to a .196 batting average, while the drefense behind them has committed only one error and posted a .988 fielding percentage. Butschek and Maldonado have earned the victories in each game, while Ullmann has picked up a save.

Pacing the offense for the Tornados so far has been Robert Brown, Justin Beasley and Collin Janssen. Brown has gone 2-for-4 and registered a .500 batting average with three walks and three stolen bases, while Beasley has a homer and four RBI. Janssen drove in the only run in the bottom of the first inning against McMurry and is 3-for-8 with two doubles in the tournament.

After falling to Concordia in the winners bracket, Texas-Dallas (29-17) won an elimination game later in the day over Hardin-Simmons by a 5-3 score to advance to today's championship by rallying to plate three runs in the top of the ninth. Larry Bolding delivered the RBI hit that tied the game and scored the eventual winning tally on a sacrifice fly by Jason Diemer, who finished with three RBI in the game. The
Comet offense has been led by Grant Friddell, who is batting .556 in three tournament games. Joseph Killgore and Diemer have each gone yard once.

Concordia will need to win one game to capture its second-ever tournament title and first since 2002, while Texas-Dallas will have to register two victories to claim the crown for the first time in program history. In addition to being undefeated, the Tornados will have another huge advantage over the Comets because all their arms will be available in the bullpen. Butschek hurled 7.1 shutout innings before being relieved by Ullmann for the rest of the game on Friday, while Maldonado went the distance in yesterday's victory. Texas-Dallas, meanwhile, has used seven pitchers, including four relievers, and also had to play an extra game on Saturday.

Game Information (Sunday, May 8)
12:50 p.m. Pregame
1:00 p.m. Concordia vs. Texas-Dallas (Championship Game)
*4:00 p.m. Concordia vs. Texas-Dallas (Championship Game)

*Time approximate (if necessary)