GAME ONE BOX SCORE

GAME TWO BOX SCORE

POSTGAME INTERVIEW WITH BRENT SCHAEKEL

Austin, Texas – Brent Schaekel belted a walk-off single down the left field line in the bottom of the 15th inning to score teammate Kyle Rodriguez and lift the fifth-ranked Concordia University Texas baseball team to a 3-2 win over Texas Lutheran. With the victory, the Tornados won the American Southwest Conference West Division title and claimed hosting rights for as long as they are alive in the conference tournament.

The teams headed into the final game of the regular season tied for first place in the West Division with identical 16-4 league records after the Bulldogs earned a 3-0 shutout victory earlier in the day for its second straight win over the hosts. Concordia, which only had to win one game in the three-game series, was able to survive and win the division by only allowing three hits and one runner to move into scoring position during the extra innings.

After coming up empty in the 10th despite loading the bases with nobody out, Concordia (31-8, ASC 17-4) was able to capitalize on its opportunities in the 15th. Rodriguez led off the frame with a single down the line in right and was sacrificed over to second by Andrew Burns. The freshman then moved over to third when Quinn Guest grounded out to second, setting the stage for Schaekel from the nine-spot of the batting order. The Concordia center fielder was able to come through with his third single of the game by blooping a ball that barely stayed fair and dropped in front of the diving Bulldog left fielder to drive in Rodriguez and give Concordia the walk-off victory and West Division crown.

The Tornados never trailed in the decisive finale and would open the scoring in the bottom of the third inning to take their first lead of the weekend. Kyle Bieschke drove a two-out single to left field and advanced to second on Collin Janssen's single to left center. Tyler Grygar followed with an RBI single to center field that gave Concordia the 1-0 lead and ended the Tornados' 18-inning scoreless drought.

In the sixth inning, Andrew Burns ripped a single to left center with two outs.  He advanced to third after the Texas Lutheran third baseman threw wildly to first on a Heath Padgett ground ball.  Schaekel then lined a base hit through the left side, scoring Burns and doubling the Tornado advantage.

Texas Lutheran (26-12, ASC 16-5), however, got a run back in the eighth to narrow the Concordia lead to 2-1 and a two-out RBI single from Ryan Hill in the top of the ninth to tie the score and send the game to extras and begin what turned out to be a marathon until Schaekel provided the heroics six frames later.

Russell Johns picked up the win for Concordia and improved to 2-0 by throwing 5.2 scoreless innings. He gave up two hits and fanned five. Texas Lutheran's Chris Lewis suffered the loss and dropped to 0-2 after giving up three hits and the winning run, which was earned, over 1.2 frames.

In the early game, both teams failed to score a run until the Bulldogs pushed three across in the top of the sixth.  Concordia was unable to answer in the bottom half, dropping its second straight to Texas Lutheran. 

Jeff Spillane hurled the second straight complete game for Texas Lutheran to earn the victory and improve to 5-5.  He allowed just three hits and recorded nine strikeouts while walking two. Concordia's Jacob Spelbring suffered his first loss of the season and fell to 4-1 after yielding three runs, which were all earned, and two hits.

Concordia will host a best-of-three ASC playoff series beginning on Friday, Apr. 27 against the fourth seed in the East Division. If the program is successful and advances, the Tornados will get to host the league's double-elimination championship event the following weekend with an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament at stake.

Notes: The Tornados honored their 15-member senior class prior to the doubleheader.
-agate-
Texas Lutheran                       000     000     3     3     5     0
#5 Concordia                           000     000     0     0     3     1
Texas Lutheran:  Jeff Spillane and Ryan Hill.
Concordia:  Tyler Grygar, Jacob Spelbring (6) and Collin Janssen.

Texas Lutheran (26-12, ASC 16-5)     000      000      011      000      000     2   11   3
#5 Concordia (31-8, ASC 17-4)           001      001      000      000      001     3   13   2
            Texas Lutheran:  Kellen McGriff, Aaron Aleman (6), Sean Kistler (10), Chris Lewis (14) and Ryan Hill
            Concordia:  Colin Butschek, Austin Rupert (6), Ryan Ullmann (9), Russell Johns (10) and Collin Janssen.