JACKSON, Miss. – Matthew Williams reached double-digit strikeouts for the second straight outing and became the winningest pitcher in program history after notching the 28th win of his career as the Concordia Texas baseball team blanked Belhaven 8-0 on Friday in their first conference game of the season.

Williams entered the day tied with Chema Chavez (2001-04) for the most wins in school history, sitting at 27 for his career.

The Austin, Texas native showed no nerves and left no doubt on the mound as he tossed 7.2 scoreless innings, allowed only five hits and set a new career-high in strikeouts for the second game in a row, finishing with 14 on the day.

The Tornados' offense, meanwhile, led by senior hitters Casen Novak and Bret Leiferman, provided plenty of early run support for Williams, pushing across three runs in both the third and fourth innings before tacking on two insurance runs in the seventh.

The win makes Williams the winningest pitcher in program history, reaching the historic milestone in 53 appearances, including 44 starts in his career.

After setting the American Southwest Conference record for most wins in a single season in 2019, Williams is now within reach of the conference record for most wins in a career, sitting only four away from Texas Lutheran's Brad Orosey's mark of 32 career wins.

Leiferman, who entered the game five hits away from breaking the program's career hits record, inched closer against the Blazers, finishing 2-for-4 at the plate along with a walk, driving in a pair and scoring twice.

Teammate Novak, meanwhile, had at least three hits for the fourth time this season, registering a 3-for-4 day, a walk, and drove in a two runs on a single in the fourth.

Leiferman and Novak are both closing in on the careers hits record of 212, held by Scott Bunting. Leiferman will enter Saturday's doubleheader with 210 total hits, while Novak sits at 208 for his career.

Grayson Lee, Jacob Gwynne and Ryan Clouse all recorded a hit for CTX as well. Lee had a two-run double in the Tornados' three-run third inning, while Gwynne and Clouse each scored a run in the team's three-run fourth inning.

Jim McCabe came in relief of Williams in the eighth and allowed only one hit over 1.1 innings of work and struck out a batter as CTX cruised to an 8-0  victory over Belhaven to open American Southwest Conference play.

The Tornados will close out the series on Saturday with a doubleheader against the Blazers beginning at 11 a.m. in Jackson, Miss.