HOWARD PAYNE BOX SCORE

LOUISIANA COLLEGE BOX SCORE

POSTGAME INTERVIEW WITH BRENT SCHAEKEL

Austin, Texas – Brent Schaekel went a combined 7-for-8 with three runs batted in and four runs scored in leading the Concordia University Texas baseball team to a pair of victories on the first day of the Rudy's BBQ Tornado Classic on Friday, Feb. 10 at Tornado Field. The Tornados defeated Howard Payne, 15-3, in seven innings due to the 10-run rule before holding on for a 4-2 victory over Louisiana College later in the day.

Concordia, which was designated as the away team in its opener, jumped all over Howard Payne early by plating three runs in the first, one in the second and three in the third to go ahead by a 7-0 score. An RBI triple to center by Tyler Grygar got the scoring going before an Andrew Burns one-run single and a Colton Gommert walk with the bases loaded made it 3-0 before the Yellow Jackets got to swing the bat. Brent Schaekel, who went 3-for-3 with three runs batted in, had a two-run double to the gap in left center in the top of the third to give the Tornados a seven-run cushion.

After a scoreless fourth inning, the Tornados added four runs in the fifth and sixth frames to go ahead by 15 runs while Scott Weinschenk was in the process of hurling a one-hit shutout. Collin Janssen, Stephen Kaminski, Quinn Guest and Grygar all drove in runs on extra-base hits during the stretch.

With a Tornado reliever on the mound, Howard Payne (0-2) was able to get on the scoreboard by plating two runs in the bottom of the sixth. But the deficit for the Yellow Jackets was too much to overcome, as the Tornados would run away with the 12-run victory.

Weinschenk was credited with his first collegiate victory by hurling five shutout innings and only allowing one hit. He also struck out five. Carlton Brown suffered the loss for Howard Payne by yielding three runs, which were all earned, and three hits in just one inning of work.

In the Louisiana College game, Concordia went ahead 3-0 by plating one run in three consecutive innings. The Tornados opened the scoring in the second inning when Kyle Rodriguez singled in Cody Nevilles with a blast through the left side. Even though the hosts did not record a hit in the third inning, Nevilles doubled the lead by working a bases-loaded walk to score Tyler Grygar before Gommert singled in Schaekel during the fourth.

Louisiana College (0-1), which was playing its first game of the season after having its first four scheduled rained out last week, made an attempt to rally and sliced the lead to a single run by scoring twice in the top of the seventh. Taylor Beavers belted an RBI double to right center and scored on the next play with only one out when Cole Prejean ripped a single up the middle. Ryan Ullmann, however, came in and struck out the next two Wildcat hitters to end the threat. Gommert drove in an insurance run in the bottom half of the inning to produce the final score.

Scott Hays earned the victory on the mound and improved to 1-0 on the young season by yielding only four hits and two runs, including one that was earned, in 6.1 innings of work. He also fanned seven Wildcat hitters. Ullmann recorded his second save of the season, hurling 2.2 scoreless innings. The junior struck out five of the six batters he faced. Louisiana College's Justin Reed suffered the loss after surrendering two hits and two runs, including one earned, over 2.2 frames.

Concordia (5-0) will conclude play at the Rudy's BBQ Tornado Classic tomorrow when it faces LeTourneau at 10:00 a.m. and 22nd-ranked Trinity at 7:00 p.m.

Concordia  313 044 0 15 12 1
Howard Payne (0-2) 000 003 0 3 6 3

(Game was called after seven innings due to the 10-run rule)

Concordia: Scott Weinschenk, Bristan Clingaman (6) and Collin Janssen, Tyler Bain (6).
Howard Payne: Carlton Brown, Tyler Gaddis (2), Dustin Kelver (3), Kyler Payne (6), Mitchell Marquis (6) and Alan Sailors, Jake Sadler (6).


Louisiana College (0-1) 000 000 200 2 6 5
Concordia (5-0)  011 100 10x 4 7 2

Louisiana College: Justin Reed, Kory Kottenbrook (3), Madison Lachney (7) and Taylor Beavers.
Concordia: Scott Hays, Ryan Ullmann (7) and Collin Janssen.