RICHARDSON, Texas – Jorden Russell threw a complete game while also hitting a home run and Brittani Whitten drove in four runs to help the Concordia Texas softball team close the regular season with an 8-2 win over UT Dallas Saturday at UTD Softball Field.
 
With the win the Tornados moved to 23-16, 19-11 in the American Southwest Conference and clinched the number four overall seed in the ASC Tournament as well as a first round bye.
 
The fourth place finish is the highest for CTX since the ASC moved from two divisions to one in 2014. The 19-11 conference record is the best record since the Tornados finished 18-6 in the ASC in 2010.
 
CTX got on the board first with four runs in the second inning thanks to a five hit inning including RBI singles from Payton Walker, Brittani Whitten and Alexia Rowe.
 
The Comets answered with single runs in the third and fourth innings to cut the lead in half, but Russell was able to limit the damage as she stranded nine runners on the bases in the game.
 
Russell, a junior from Leander, Texas, got the complete game victory in the circle after throwing 7.0 innings while allowing just two runs and striking out five. She also ripped her second home run in her last three games and her third of the season.
 
In the seventh, the Tornados broke the game open when Whitten hit her sixth homer of the season over the right center field wall to score three runs and extend the lead to 7-4. Russell tacked on another insurance run with her home run to give CTX their second four run inning of the game.
 
Whitten, a senior out of Roseville, Calif., finished the day 3-for-4 with three RBIs and a run scored.
 
Next up, Concordia will travel to Tyler, Texas for the ASC Tournament on May 3-5. The first game of the tournament will be Thursday at 3:00 p.m. against an opponent yet to be determined.