AUSTIN, Texas – The Concordia Texas baseball team has six returning All-American Southwest Conference selections and have retooled their lineup as the program prepares for their season opener on Friday, facing Howard Payne in a doubleheader beginning at noon.

The Tornados, who reached the finals of the ASC Blue Bracket in last season's conference tournament, will head into 2022 with a revamped team after saying goodbye to 11 seniors, including Bret Leiferman, Calvin Bush, Casen Novak and Matthew Williams, who all etched their names into the school record book in multiple categories.

Concordia Texas will look to lay a new foundation for the program on Friday, opening the season in Brownwood, Texas against their conference foe, the Yellow Jackets, in a doubleheader with first pitch set for noon.

In the conference's preseason poll, the Tornados were picked to finish third after earning 199 points and two first-place votes. Reigning conference champion, UT Dallas, was picked to repeat after collecting 274 points and were followed by ASC runner-up East Texas Baptist.

Meanwhile, in the ASC's Players to Watch list, upperclassmen Colton Hunter and Grayson Lee were selected for CTX.

Lee will be one of the Tornados' key returning bats in the lineup after being an ASC Third Team selection last season. The Hillsboro, Texas native batted .374 in 34 games and finished tied in the team lead in doubles and home runs with 11 and five, respectively. He also tallied 26 runs scored and drove in 33 for the season, finishing with 15 multi-hit games.

Hunter, meanwhile, is back for his second season with the program after being a reliable arm on the mound in 2021. The Round Rock, Texas native hurled 41 innings, posting a 2-2 record and a 4.17 ERA in eight starts. In his final performance of the season, in the ASC Tournament, Hunter allowed only one run over eight innings and struck out nine in a win-or-go home game against LeTourneau.

The program will also rely on the hitting of Dalton Watts, Mason Dubois and EJ Sanchez in the upcoming season.

Watts was an ASC Honorable Mention last season after starting in 25 games for CTX, batting .316 with 17 runs scored, four doubles and 15 RBIs. Sanchez was also an ASC Honorable Mention last year, coming on late for the Tornados as an efficient bat in lineup. He appeared in 17 games, making 15 starts, and hit .380 with an on-base percentage of .467, ranking third on the team.

Dubois, meanwhile, played in 25 games, with 14 starts, hitting .313 for the year, adding two doubles, a home run and nine RBIs.

On the mound, CTX will have an assortment of arms to call on, including lefties Otto Franz and Hayden Schroeder, who were both ASC Honorable Mentions in 2021.

Franz made ten appearances for the Tornados, posting a 2-0 record and a 2.73 ERA in 26.1 innings and finished with 24 strikeouts to only eight walks. Schroeder, meanwhile, tossed over 15 innings in relief, going 3-0 on the mound with a 2.35 ERA and racking up 15 punchouts.

Concordia Texas will open the season with five straight ASC series, beginning with a three-game set against HPU. They will make their first appearance at Tornado Field on Feb. 18, hosting Sul Ross State in a doubleheader.

An early test for the program will come on March 4 when they travel to Richardson, Texas to face the Comets for a three-game series, a rematch of last season's ASC Tournament Blue Bracket finals.

The Tornados will step out of conference play, hosting UMass-Boston in a four-game set March 17-19, before playing Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference foes Texas Lutheran and Trinity in single games on March 22 and March 29, respectively.

Concordia Texas will face the Bulldogs once more in April, hosting them on April 5, and take on the Tigers in a home-and-away series, playing in San Antonio on April 19, before welcoming them into town on April 26.

The regular season will come to a close for the Tornados on the road, opening a three-game series against McMurry on April 29 in Abilene, Texas.

The ASC Tournament will kick off on May 5, where the first rounds will be hosted by the top two seeds in the conference.

It all begins for CTX on Friday, taking on the Yellow Jackets in a doubleheader beginning at noon from Don Shepard Park in Brownwood, Texas.