Baseball drops two to 2014 national tournament qualifier

STERLING, Kan. – In its second doubleheader in as many days in the state of Kansas, the Concordia University baseball team dropped a pair of games on Wednesday afternoon to 2014 national tournament qualifier Sterling College. The Bulldogs relinquished a game 1 lead before falling by a 5-2 score. The Warriors completed the sweep with a 7-3 game 2 victory.

First-year head coach Ryan Dupic’s squad fell to 2-4 on the young season. Sterling, knocking on the door of the NAIA top 25 rankings, moved to 11-3 overall.

Concordia threatened the Warriors in game 1 behind a solid collegiate debut from freshman right-hander Neil Ryan on the mound.

“The first game was a really well-played baseball game,” Dupic said. “We played well defensively and Neil Ryan was outstanding against a very good team that will probably make the national tournament again. Neil did a great job. Offensively we had opportunities to stretch the lead, but we just couldn’t push those runs across.”

At the plate, Dupic got good production from outfielder Taylor Dudley, who reached base in all four game 2 plate appearances. Junior Taylor Bigandt added a pair of hits in the capper while Alex Cargin cracked a single and walked twice. In game 1, both Alex Alstott and Kaleb Geiger reached base multiple times and earned mention from Dupic.

With the cancelation of the weekend series that had been scheduled with Oklahoma Wesleyan, the Bulldogs now look forward to their home-opening doubleheader slated for Wednesday, March 4. Grace University will serve as the opponent with first pitch set for 1 p.m.

“There are definitely some positives to take away moving forward,” Dupic said after Wednesday’s twin bill. “It was good to get out and play again. I’m looking forward to seeing if we can play at home next week, or it’s on to Arizona (for the team’s spring trip scheduled for March 7-13).”