Box Score
SEGUIN, Texas -- Chris Green belted a grand slam in the fifth inning to lift the Texas Lutheran Bulldogs to a 9-5 non-conference win Wednesday over Concordia Nebraska.
At TLU's Katt-Isbel Field, the Bulldogs trailed 2-1 before Green's blast over the left-field wall. Green, the senior shortstop from Austin (Bowie), finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored and four RBI.
TLU, an NCAA Division III squad in the American Southwest Conference, moved to 15-5 overall with the victory. Concordia Nebraska, an NAIA team out of the Great Plains Athletic Conference, dropped to 1-14.
TLU added a four-run sixth inning to push the lead to 9-2. Ryan Nokelby (Santa Fe, Texas/Santa Fe) singled home a pair of runs, and Darwin Lucero (Gatesville/Hill JC) added an RBI single. Cody Miller (New Braunfels/New Braunfels) capped the inning with an RBI sacrifice fly.
Nokelby, TLU's senior center fielder, went 2-for-2 with a run scored. Nokelby's two hits moved his career hit total to 235 and to within four of breaking TLU's career mark for hits. Johnny Briseno currently holds the Bulldogs' career record with 238 hits in a four-year career that spanned 1996 to 1999. Nokelby, a four-year starter, has played in every game for TLU (and started in all but one) since joining the Bulldogs as a freshman in 2007.
Lucero collected two RBI for TLU and was 2-for-3, and Clay Childress (Houston/Eastfield JC) went 3-for-4 with a run scored. Bulldog second baseman Andrew Femath (El Paso/Howard JC) added two hits and two runs scored.
Sean Madden (Durham, N.C./Lenoir-Rhyne) pitched two innings and recorded his first victory as a Bulldog. Tom Hembree (Burnet/Burnet) entered the game in the ninth with the bases loaded and with the tying run on deck. Hembree coaxed a ground-ball double play to end the game to record his fourth save of the season.
TLU returns to American Southwest Conference action on Friday and Saturday when it hosts Howard Payne University at Katt-Isbel Field. Friday's 9-inning game is set for a 2 p.m. start. Saturday's doubleheader will start at noon. The Saturday doubleheader will have a live video webcast from www.tlubulldogs.com.