AUSTIN, Texas – The Concordia Texas baseball team will enter the upcoming season with high expectations, coming off their deepest NCAA Division III Tournament run since 2002 and return with four All-American Southwest Conference selections, opening the season in the Rusty Greer/Jackie Moore Collegiate Classic on Friday.

Bret Leiferman, Casen Novak, Matthew Williams, Calvin Bush and the rest of the Tornados will kick off the 2020 campaign, facing Methodist in their season opener at 2:30 p.m. in Grand Prairie, Texas.

Concordia Texas had one of their best seasons in program history in 2019, finishing 37-13 for the year. Along the way, the Tornados clinched their first ASC Tournament Championship since 2012, qualified for the NCAA Regional round for a program record third straight season, claimed their first NCAA Regional championship since 2002 and reached the NCAA Super Regional round before falling to eventual national champions Chapman.

Ahead of their season opener, the Tornados were ranked No. 23 in D3Baseball.com/National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association's Preseason Top 25.

In the ASC Preseason Poll, CTX was picked to win the conference title after accumulating 19 of the 24 first-place votes and 282 total points.

Meanwhile, seniors Leiferman and Williams were named to the conference's players to watch list.

Williams, is coming off a career year after leading the team in wins (12), innings (96.2), complete games (5) and shutouts (4). He was also an ASC First Team selection for his work on the mound as well as being named the ASC Pitcher of the Year.

The Austin, Texas native also earned national recognition last season, being named a D3Baseball.com All-American and joined teammates Leiferman and Calvin Bush on both D3Baseball.com and American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings All-West Region Teams.

At the NCAA Seguin Regional, Williams recorded the first CTX no-hitter since 2004 and the first NCAA Division III Tournament no-hitter since 2007, shutting down Franklin in a 4-0 victory.

Williams is also closing in on a couple of career program records, sitting two wins away from become the winningest pitcher in school history, tied for the record in shutouts with six, and is 69 strikeouts away from setting school's strikeout record.

The Hyde Park high school product was recognized for the upcoming season by D3Baseball.com, being named a preseason All-American.

Leiferman, meanwhile, out of Round Rock, Texas, is one of the Tornados' biggest bats returning to the lineup in 2020.

Last season Leiferman started in all 50 games, leading the team in batting (.374), hits (68), doubles (8), home runs (5), total bases (95), slugging percentage (.522) and walks (29). He was an ASC First Team selection as well as a being named to both D3Baseball.com and the ABCA/Rawlings All-West Region Teams.

Leiferman heads into his final season within reach of a couple of career school records as well, including runs scored, hits, doubles and total bases.

Bush, a senior, is another arm the Tornados will be able to rely on.

The St. Michael's Academy product had a strong second half of the season last year.

He recorded double-digit strikeouts in four of his final five starts, ending the season with 110 punch-outs, tying the program's single-season record. He tallied a perfect 6-0 record on the mound, leading the team in ERA (1.49), saves (4), strikeouts and opponent's batting average (.152).

He also earned national accolades, being named a D3Baseball.com All-West Second Team selection, an ABCA/Rawlings West All-Region Second Team honoree as well as being named a D3Baseball.com Third Team All-American.

Meanwhile, Novak is another senior for the Tornados, looking to jumpstart the offense in the leadoff spot.

Last season, the Flatonia, Texas native, started in all 50 games, batting .337. He finished the year leading the team in runs scored (52), tied for the team lead in hits (68) and had a .424 on-base percentage along with a team-best 14 steals.

For his performance, Novak was named an ASC First Team selection. He is also closing in on a couple of the program's career batting records, currently eighth all-time in hits with 193 and seventh all-time in runs scored with 139.

Meanwhile, Head Coach Tommy Boggs enter his 11th season at the helm of the baseball program. After becoming the school's winningest baseball coach back in 2018, Boggs is zeroing on another historic milestone. He enters the 2020 season only seven wins away from reaching 300 victories in his coaching career.

Concordia Texas will have a packed schedule, opening the season at the Rusty Greer/Jackie Moore Collegiate Classic on Feb. 7-9, where they will face Methodist, Hendrix and George Fox, respectively.

The Tornados will host its annual Concordia Classic on Feb. 14-16, welcoming La Verne, Trinity and LeTourneau into town for a round robin style tournament. Concordia Texas will face La Verne in their home opener on Feb. 14 at 5 p.m., playing their first regular season game on their newly installed field turf.

The Tornados will face a couple of familiar teams as well this season in Trinity and Texas Lutheran, who both were ranked in D3Baseball.com/ABCWA's Preseason Top 25 and also were a part of the field of teams in the 2019 NCAA Seguin Regional.

Concordia Texas will face the No. 3 Tigers on Feb. 15, while playing the No. 22 Bulldogs in a home-and-away series, where they will play on the road on March 31 before welcoming them to Tornado Field on April 14.

The Tornados also have games against four teams that received votes in the D3Baseball.com/NCBWA Preseason Top 25, including Methodist, Hendrix, Southwestern and MIT.

Concordia Texas will begin its conference title defense on Feb. 21 when they open a three-game set on the road against ASC foe Belhaven in Jackson, Miss. The Tornados will wrap up the regular season on April 23-24, playing in Belton, Texas against Mary Hardin-Baylor in a three-game series.

The top two teams in the conference will host the ASC Tournament First Round on April 30-May 2, with the winner of each site advancing to a best-of-three championship series hosted by the top remaining highest seed on May 7-9.

Concordia Texas will look to repeat as conference champions for the first time since winning back-to-back title in 2011 and 2012, and return to the NCAA College World Series for the first time since the program's first appearance back in 2002.