AUSTIN, Texas – The Concordia University Texas baseball team will open its 34th season of play this weekend when it hosts Southwestern in a three-game series at Tornado Field. The set, which originally was scheduled to begin on Friday, has been pushed back and will open with a 3 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday. The final game of the series will take place at 1 p.m. Sunday.
The Tornados, who are picked to finish second in the American Southwest Conference (ASC) and received votes in the preseason D3baseball.com Top 25 poll, return 18 letter winners from last year's team that finished with a 22-22 record and advanced the ASC Tournament semifinals. Concordia Texas, which is led by fifth-year head coach
Tommy Boggs, also features 17 newcomers on its opening-day roster.
Offensively, the Tornados finished the 2013 campaign with a team batting average of .251. Two-time first-team All-ASC selection
Brent Schaekel returns to lead Concordia's offense. The senior outfielder batted .293 with six doubles, a triple, 19 RBIs and stole 19 bases last season. Schaekel will receive support from 2013 honorable-mention All-ASC pick
Chance Leissner, who hit .333 with five doubles, three home runs and 16 RBIs a year ago, and last year's ASC Co-Freshman of the Year
Connor Bertsch, who posted a .283 batting average with seven two-baggers, a pair of round-trippers and 18 RBIs.
On the mound, senior right-hander
Scott Weinschenk returns to lead a pitching staff that recorded a 3.75 ERA last season. The Brenham, Texas, native posted a 5-5 record in 12 appearances and logged 50.1 innings. The Tornados' staff also will be bolstered by several newcomers, including a pair of Division I transfers –
Cameron Cox and
Corey Holmes.
Cox, a junior right-hander, made nine appearances for Texas last season and posted a 2-1 record with a 4.61 ERA in 13.2 innings of work. Holmes, a senior righty, made 15 relief appearances at West Virginia last season and registered one save while holding opposing hitters to a .219 batting average in 17.1 innings.
The Pirates (0-1) opened their season on Tuesday with a 6-5 loss at Howard Payne. A year ago, Southwestern recorded a 3-38 ledger and batted .217 while logging a 7.78 ERA on the mound.
Friday's contest marks the 69th meeting between the two clubs with the Pirates holding a 43-25 advantage in the all-time series. However, Concordia has won five consecutive matchups with Southwestern, including a 4-2 victory last season in Austin.
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Games #1-3
Concordia Texas Tornados (0-0)
vs.
Southwestern Pirates (0-1)
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2013 statistics
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Saturday, Feb. 8 – 3/6 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 9 – 1 p.m.
Tornado Field
Austin, Texas
Series History
Southwestern leads, 43-25
Last Meeting
Concordia Texas 4, Southwestern 2
(April 15, 2013 • Austin, Texas)
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Website
Statistics
Roster
Schedule |
