Concordia (Texas) sweeps through ASC tourney

Concordia (Texas) swept throught the ASC Championship to win their second tournament title and an automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs. Concordia (Texas) sports information

Richardson, Texas – Justin Beasley went 2-for-3 and drove in two runs to lead the Concordia (Texas) to a 6-4 victory over Texas-Dallas and its second American Southwest Conference championship on Sunday, May 8 at the UTD Baseball Field. The Tornados punched their ticket to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the second time in school history.

The title game began as a pitcher's duel between Concordia's Scott Hays and Texas-Dallas' Cameron Brown. The Tornados were able to break through with the game's first run in the third inning when Beasley reached on an error by the Comet shortstop, plating Brent Schaekel from third.

After leaving the bases loaded twice and 10 runners on base through the first five innings, Concordia used aggressive base running and got the clutch hitting it needed to score four times in the sixth to take a five-run lead. Schaekel and Beasley recorded RBI singles before Robert Brown drove in two more on a single down the line in right to put the Tornados ahead by a 5-0 score. Concordia, which had six different players steal a base in the game, added another tally in the seventh courtesy of an RBI single by Kristopher Pearce to center field before the host school attempted to stage a furious rally in the late innings.

Texas-Dallas (29-18), which was looking to win its first ASC tournament crown, got on the scoreboard in the eighth when Chase Brown took a 3-2 pitch up the middle to score Jason Diemer, who tripled to right on the previous play. The Comets then added three more tallies in the final frame with a two-run single up the middle by Jacob Starnes starting the scoring to make it 6-3 with two outs.

With the Comets still well alive to force another game to decide the championship Ryan Ullmann was called upon to get the final out with runners on the corners. Diemer singled to second base to score pinch runner Ryan Minerr and trim the Tornado lead to two, but Ullmann was able to induce a groundout to Matt McManemin to end the game.

“We are all really thrilled to win the championship,” said head coach Tommy Boggs, who is in his second season at the helm of the program. “The kids did a great job and played really hard. It is a big accomplishment for the school, all of the students and the entire community. We are really excited about going [to the NCAA Tournament] and representing Concordia.”

Hays was credited as the winning pitcher for Concordia and improved his ledger to 2-1 on the year, including 2-0 in the postseason. The junior, who yielded four hits and recorded three strikeouts, pitched six shutout innings and did not allow an earned run to score for the fourth time in as many starts. Ullmann picked up his third save of the season, and second of the tournament, by recording the final out with the tying run at first base and the go-ahead run at the plate.

Beasley was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament after batting .500 with a home run, a double and six RBI. Colin Butschek, Colton Gommert, Collin Janssen, Brown and Ullmann joined the senior designated player on the all-tournament squad.

“Our pitching and defense was awesome,” added Beasley, who has been a four-year starter for the program. “We were once again able to get ahead early and hold the lead, which is what we are always looking to do. We really played Concordia baseball today.”

Concordia (30-15), which has doubled last season's win total, will be one of 55 schools invited to compete in the NCAA Division III Tournament when the brackets are released on Monday, May 16. The Tornados advanced to the College World Series in their last NCAA appearance in 2002.