LeTOURNEAU BOX SCORE

TRINITY BOX SCORE

WATCH ARCHIVED BROADCAST OF LETOURNEAU GAME COURTESY OF K-MAC SPORTS

WATCH ARCHIVED BROADCAST OF TRINITY GAME COURTESY OF K-MAC SPORTS

Austin, Texas – Brent Schaekel and Alec Carter each recorded two hits and four pitchers combined for a shutout in leading the Concordia University Texas baseball team to a 2-0 victory over LeTourneau at the Rudy's BBQ Tornado Classic on Saturday, Feb. 11 at Tornado Field. The Tornados also dropped a 3-2 decision to 22nd-ranked Trinity later in the day to finish the tournament with a 3-1 ledger.

After leaving one runner on base in each of the first three innings, Concordia got all the scoring it needed in the fourth frame in its opener against LeTourneau. With one out and runners on first and second, Nick Kozole belted a single down the line in right. Both Alec Carter and Cody Nevilles scored on the play due to an errant throw. Tornado hurlers Steven Peterson, Austin Rupert and Jacob Spelbring combined to only allow one hit the rest of the way to give the hosts the two-run win.

Peterson, who relieved starter Colin Butschek to start the fifth, earned the victory for Concordia and improved his ledger to 2-0 by pitching 2.1 scoreless frames in which he did not allow a hit. Spelbring picked up his first save of the season by recording the last two outs, which included fanning a batter. LeTourneau (0-1) pitcher Travis Norris suffered the loss and fell to 0-1 despite yielding six hits and only two runs, including one earned, over six innings of work. He also registered six strikeouts.

Trinity (5-0), which rallied to defeat Concordia at the NCAA West Regional in Abilene last year on a ninth-inning grand slam by Nick Pappas, jumped ahead in the tournament's final game against the Tornados by plating two runs in the top of the third. Christian Muscarello doubled down the left field line with a runner on first and Will Donnan followed with an RBI single the other way to double the lead.

Concordia sliced the deficit in half in the bottom of the fifth. With one out and runners on second and third, Matt McManemin was able to plate Klye Bieschke when he grounded out to the first baseman. The Tornados had the leading run in scoring position, but the next batter struck out swinging to end the inning.

After Trinity (5-0) added another run in the top of the eighth to regain a two-run lead, Concordia threatened to go ahead for the first time in the bottom half of the inning. Colton Gommert hit a leadoff single, was sacrificed over to second by McManemin and reached third on an infield single by Schaekel. Gommert then stole home when the speedy Schaekel attracted attention from the left-handed Ryan Lucero and was nearly caught in a rundown. The center fielder slid in safely to first as Gommert crossed home plate.

Kyle Rodriguez walked on the next play, moving Schaekel over to second, and the bases got loaded with Tornados when Carter reached on a fielder's choice. But Michael Bentz, who came in to relieve Lucero after the Rodriguez walk, got out of the major jam by inducing a popout and recording a strikeout.

The Tornados once again got the winning run in scoring position in the bottom of the ninth, but Bentz was able to avoid trouble again to pick up the save. Following a Colton Gommert bloop double to center that put runners on second and third with one down, Bentz forced the next two Tornado hitters to fly out to right and ground out to short to end the game.

Trinity's Lucero improved to 2-0 on the year after earning the victory. He hurled 7.1 innings and yielded four hits and two runs, which were both earned, and rung up 10. Bentz picked up his first save by throwing 1.2 scoreless innings of relief. Concordia's Tyler Grygar suffered the loss and dropped to 1-1 after surrendering four hits and two runs that were earned over seven frames. He fanned four and did not issue a walk.

Concordia (6-1) will compete at the Arizona Desert Classic from Feb. 16-19, which begins with a game against Whitman on Thursday, Feb. 16 at 11 a.m. CST.
-agate-
LeTourneau (0-1)      000     000     000     0     6     1
Concordia                   000     200     00x      2     7     2
     LeTourneau: Travis Norris, Kirby Cantalamessa (7) and Chuck Daugherty.
     Concordia: Colin Butschek, Steven Peterson (5), Austin Rupert (7), Jacob Spelbring (9) and Collin Janssen.

#22 Trinity (5-0)          002     000     010     3     6     0
Concordia (6-1)          000     010     010     2     5     0
     Trinity: Ryan Lucero, Michael Bentz (8) and Kelly Woodruff.
     Concordia: Tyler Grygar, Bryant Hernandez (8), Jacob Spelbring (8), Ryan Ullmann (9) and Collin Janssen.