LAKE WALES, Fla. – Jay Adams has heated up along with the weather in The Sunshine State. The returning All-American second baseman muscled up for four home runs on Friday (March 10) at the Warner Invitational as the Concordia University Baseball team walloped Calumet College of St. Joseph (Ind.), 23-3, and 13th-ranked St. Thomas University (Fla.), 20-3. The potent Bulldog offense accumulated 34 hits, including nine home runs in its biggest outburst of the season to date.
Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad has won four of its last five during its spring break trip and has improved to 13-8 overall. There wasn’t too much to nitpick about on a day where the Concordia lineup mashed in an eye-popping manner.
A bit of a lineup shuffle may have provided a jolt. “I have to give credit – it was Caleb (Lang)’s idea,” Dupic said of shifting Jaidan Quinn up to leadoff and slotting Adams at No. 5. “Jay’s been struggling a little bit, but we all know he’s a really good player. We thought we’d just shake it up a bit. Jaidan’s on base all the time, so we thought we’d just change things up. The first game, we were at the shorter field so we put our power hitters to the front and tried to drive the baseball. We got some rhythm and momentum with it so we kept going with it in game two. Our hitters were very impressive today. They were really good in game one and they were way better in game two.”
The Bulldogs did not flinch for even a moment when Calumet College put up three runs in the top of the first. The run-scoring onslaught for Concordia got started in the bottom half when Alec Blakestad drove in two runs with a base hit. The crooked numbers kept on coming as the Bulldogs plated five runs in the first, seven in the third, seven in the fourth, three in the fifth and one more in the sixth. In order, home runs came via Joey Grabanski (three-run), Jesse Garcia (solo), Jaidan Quinn (two-run), Grabanski (solo) and Adams (three-run). More of the offensive highlights from that contest are listed below.
Offensive highlights vs. Calumet College:
· Jay Adams: 2-for-3, 3 R, BB, 2B, HR, 4 RBIs
· Alec Blakestad: 2-for-3, 2 R, RBI
· Jesse Garcia: 3-for-4, 2 R, HR, RBI
· Joey Grabanski: 2-for-4, 3 R, 2 HR, 4 RBIs
· Jaidan Quinn: 1-for-3, 4 R, HR, 2 RBIs
Adams was only getting started. By day’s end the Waverly, Neb., star had gone 6-for-8 with six runs, three stolen bases, four home runs and 12 RBIs. Three of his blasts (including an inside-the-parker) and eight of his RBIs came against the Bobcats in the night cap, which quickly got out of hand. Concordia rattled off the game’s first 15 runs. Garcia set the tone by crushing a two-run homer to left center as part of a five-run first. Adams then blasted a three-run shot to ignite a seven-run second that included a bases-clearing double by Garcia, who has been red hot throughout the early going.
In the thrashing of nationally ranked St. Thomas, eight Bulldogs notched at least one hit and another seven drove in at least one run. Adams’ eight RBIs equaled the total he put up in last season’s 25-6 win over Briar Cliff in the GPAC tournament. Below is a listing of offensive highlights from Friday’s second game.
Offensive highlights vs. St. Thomas:
· Jay Adams: 4-for-5, 3 R, 2B, 3 HR, 8 RBIs
· Ben Berg: 2-for-5, BB, RBI
· Alec Blakestad: 3-for-5, 3 R, 2B
· Jesse Garcia: 3-for-4, 3 R, 2B, HR, 5 RBIs
· Teyt Johnson: 2-for-4, R, BB, RBI
· Tanner Tompkins: 3-for-5, two runs, 2B, 2 RBIs
Said Dupic of Adams, “He got it going pretty good. The only negative was he fouled a ball off his shin, but he was very, very good today.”
It would be easy for the pitching to get lost in the shuffle considering all the offensive production, but Dupic was mostly pleased with what he saw from his hurlers. Caden Johnson shook off a rough start against Calumet College and worked four innings (five strikeouts) while picking up the win. Qwin Zabokrtsky then tossed three shutout frames in relief and got the save. In the second game, Kellen Ingram made the start and covered three innings (one run allowed) and fanned six hitters. By virtue of throwing the final four innings, Ernie Snyder got credit for the win. He surrendered two runs and recorded four strikeouts.
Said Dupic, “Caden Johnson really battled after giving up three in the first. Qwin Zabokrtsky threw really well after him. Kellen Ingram threw really well in his first start and Ernie Synder came in and did a good job. I’m proud of those guys too.”
With his two home runs on Friday, Grabanski has tied former Bulldog Keaton Candor for the most career homers (47) in program history. Garcia is also right on their heels with 46.
At last, the Bulldogs will close out their Florida tour on Saturday with one more game at the Warner Invite. First pitch is slated for 3:30 p.m. ET (2:30 p.m. CT) in what will be the championship game of the invite. As of late Friday night, the opponent was still to be determined.