SEWARD, Neb. – For the fourth season in a row, and for the fifth time since 2017, the Concordia University Baseball program has reached the GPAC tournament championship game. The Bulldogs will attempt to defend their 2021 and 2022 conference postseason championships on Tuesday (May 9) when they venture to nearby Doane for the title game. First pitch from the Doane Ballfield Complex is slated for 3 p.m. CT. It will be a matchup of the GPAC’s top two seeds. In the finals of their respective brackets played this past Saturday, Concordia clobbered Morningside, 16-3, and Doane twice defeated Mount Marty, winning by scores of 10-4 and 14-11. The Bulldogs and Tigers also met in Seward for the 2021 GPAC championship, a contest won by Concordia, 7-2. Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad stands at 38-15 overall in 2023.
2023 GPAC Championship Game
Tuesday, May 9: Concordia (38-15) at Doane (41-10), 7 p.m.
--Live Webcast | Live Stats | Location: Den Hartog Field (Lincoln, Neb.)
By the numbers
· The GPAC tournament success continues under Dupic’s leadership. The program has reached the conference tournament title game in 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023. During that stretch, the Bulldogs have gone a combined 18-5 in GPAC postseason games while celebrating tournament championships in 2021 and 2022. As part of the ’22 championship run, Concordia dropped its opening game of the tournament to Northwestern and then rattled off five victories in a row, including three in one day (May 9). Second baseman Jay Adams delivered walk-off RBI singles in the final two games of the tournament – a 5-4 win over Northwestern and a 7-6 (10 innings) win over Jamestown in the championship clash. In the 2023 GPAC tournament, the Bulldogs’ path to the title game has featured victories over Northwestern, 7-4, Midland, 9-4, and Morningside, 16-3. Scores for previous Concordia GPAC championship games were:
o 2022: Concordia 7, Jamestown 6 (10 innings)
o 2021: Concordia 7, Doane 2
o 2019: Jamestown 3, Concordia 0
o 2017: Midland 5, Concordia 3
· Jaidan Quinn just might be the hottest hitter on the entire planet. Consider his numbers over the last month. Over the past 21 games (April 7 and on), Quinn has batted .440 (33-for-75) with a .543 on-base percentage and 1.213 slugging percentage (91 total bases) while producing 32 runs scored, seven doubles, 17 home runs and 40 RBIs. The slugging left-handed hitting third baseman was appropriately named the Bulldog Athletic Association Athlete of the Month for April and was recognized as the GPAC Player of the Week on April 25. Quinn’s power surge has given him a program single-season home run record of 27. That total leads the GPAC (three in front of teammate Joey Grabanski) and ranks No. 3 on the NAIA national leaderboard. Grabanski is tied for fourth nationally for home runs. A transfer from Wabash Valley College, Quinn has been one of the nation’s top power hitters over the past two seasons with 46 home runs and 127 RBIs in 111 career games as a Bulldog.
· Concordia went 17-2 in games played at Plum Creek Park in 2023. Over last week’s three GPAC tournament games played at home, the Bulldogs batted .375 and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 32-11. Four Concordia hitters are batting better than .400 in 2023 postseason play: Quinn (8-for-13; .615), Grabanski (6-for-13; .462), Ben Berg (5-for-11; .455) and Jay Adams (7-for-16; .438). Quinn left the yard five times last week while four teammates notched one home run apiece: Berg, Alec Blakestad, Jesse Garcia and Ty Nekoliczak. The GPAC batting average leader during the regular season, Nekoliczak blasted a go-ahead, three-run homer in the sixth inning on day one of the tournament. In the 16-3 drubbing of Morningside, Grabanski and Quinn collected four hits apiece.
· With four home runs in the victory over Morningside, the 2023 Bulldogs broke the program record for home runs in a single season. The total stands at 114 entering the week. The largest home run totals in school history have each come over the past three seasons with 90 in 2021, 113 in 2022 and 114 in 2023. Six Concordia hitters have reached double figures in homers this season: Quinn (27), Grabanski (24), Garcia (17), Blakestad (13), Adams (11) and Berg (10). Quinn, Grabanski and Garcia rank Nos. 1, 2 and 3 on the GPAC home run leaderboard. The top four players on the program’s all-time list for career home runs are Grabanski (59), Garcia (55), Keaton Candor (47) and Quinn (46). The recent binge for Quinn moved him within one homer of Candor, who held the career home run record entering this season. Garcia continues to rank No. 1 all-time for games played (234), hits (264), doubles (58), RBIs (214) and walks (115).
· During the GPAC tournament, Dupic has turned to a starting rotation of Caden Johnson, Frankie Cresta and Christian Gutierrez (in that order). The best outing last week from a starting pitcher was turned in by Gutierrez, who went all nine innings versus Morningside and allowed just five hits without issuing a free pass (six strikeouts). Johnson got a no decision versus Northwestern despite striking out seven batters in four innings. Blake Benson covered 4.2 innings in relief and earned credit for the win versus the Red Raiders. The next day, Cresta fired six innings, allowing four runs (two earned) on four hits and two walks to go along with five strikeouts. Ernie Snyder came on and dazzled in relief as he retired all nine batters he faced, six via strikeout, and picked up a three-inning save. The pitching staff owns a 2.67 ERA in the 2023 GPAC tournament.
· The offensive numbers for Concordia jump off the page. The Bulldogs lead the GPAC in virtually every offensive category, including runs scored (548), hits (616), doubles (120), home runs (114), walks (234), stolen bases (91), batting average (.363), on-base percentage (.449) and slugging percentage (.639). GPAC individual leaders include Quinn in runs (69), home runs (27), on-base percentage (.519) and slugging percentage (.907), Grabanski in RBIs (72) and walks (36) and Zackery Day in stolen bases (36). Quinn has broken single season school records for not only home runs but also runs scored. Meanwhile, Grabanski’s RBI and Day’s stolen base totals are new program standards.
· Concordia is chasing a potential third 40-win season in a row. The Bulldogs went 42-14 during the NAIA World Series qualifying season of 2021 and then followed that up with a 40-17-1 record in 2022 while coming up one win shy of a return trip to the World Series. No matter the result on Tuesday, Concordia has locked up a fifth national tournament berth during Dupic’s tenure. Earlier this season, Dupic became the winningest coach in Bulldog Baseball history. His record currently stands at 280-160-1 over nine seasons. During Dupic’s tenure (2015-present), the Bulldogs lead all GPAC baseball programs in overall wins (280), GPAC regular season wins (138), overall winning percentage (.636), conference regular season winning percentage (.663) and total GPAC championships (five).
Scouting Doane
Concordia beat Doane six times during the 2019 season, but the Tigers have had the upper hand in more recent action. Since the Bulldogs topped the Tigers in the 2021 GPAC tournament title game, Doane has won four series meetings in a row (all in the regular season). These two programs have been the standard in the GPAC the past three seasons with GPAC tournament pod play being held exclusively in Crete and Seward each year. Now in year seven as head coach, Josh Oltmans has enjoyed a great deal of success. Over the 2021-23 seasons, Doane has won two outright GPAC regular season titles and shared the 2021 regular season championship with Concordia. The Tigers boast a potent lineup of their own, one that’s headed by the likes of Nate Mensik, Joe Osborn and Lukas White. Those three players have combined for 40 home runs. As a team, Doane is batting .334 with a .426 on-base percentage and .534 slugging percentage. At the top of the rotation, Aaron Forest (9-2, 2.95 ERA, 8.84 K/9) and Kaden Crawford (8-3, 2.97 ERA, 7.43 K/9) have paced the staff. Based on usage this past week, both Forest and Crawford would seem to be candidates to start the GPAC championship game. Forest threw seven innings in the 15-1 win over Briar Cliff on May 4 and has rested since then. A well-balanced team, the Tigers lead the GPAC in ERA (3.92) and fielding percentage (.968). Doane landed at No. 5 in the NAIA Bo Chip rating unveiled on April 30.
NAIA National Championship Selection Show
Concordia and Doane will learn of their placement for the 2023 NAIA National Championship Opening Round via the NAIA Selection Show scheduled for 4 p.m. CT on Thursday (May 11). That show can be viewed by accessing the NAIA YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/PlayNAIA) at that date and time. Morningside will be in the at-large discussion having appeared at No. 16 in the NAIA’s most recent Bo Chip ratings. Opening round host locations were announced by the NAIA on May 1 and can be found HERE. The opening round is slated to play out May 15-18 with the NAIA World Series to follow in Lewiston, Idaho, May 26-June 2.