Baseball hosts Morningside for senior day on Sunday
SEWARD, Neb. – The Concordia University baseball team will entertain Morningside for its final weekend home date of the 2015 regular season. The Bulldogs will honor their 13 seniors in between games of the doubleheader set to get underway at 1 p.m. The twin bill will be streamed live via the Concordia Sports Network.
First-year head coach Ryan Dupic’s squad was originally scheduled to host Northwestern on Saturday. That doubleheader has been postponed until 3 p.m. on Monday (April 20).
The Bulldogs (22-14, 4-8 GPAC) snapped a four-game skid with their 3-0 victory over York College on Tuesday. Sophomore lefty Josh Prater struck out a career high 10 Panther hitters while allowing just four hits and no walks over seven scoreless frames. Second baseman Alex Cargin provided some breathing room with a two-run single in the bottom of the seventh.
With just one more victory, Concordia will guarantee its first winning season since the 1979 Bulldog baseball squad went 15-9-1 overall. Only three other Concordia teams have won 20 or more games in a season: 2012 (25-28), 2005 (22-33) and 2004 (20-27). The 2012 squad owns the program record for most wins in a season.
Bulldog center fielder Alex Alstott entered the week red hot prior to an 0-for-4 performance versus York. The native of Fort Dodge, Iowa, leads the team in runs (35), triples (12), home runs (three), on-base percentage (.456) and slugging percentage (.682). His 12 triples are a program single-season record.
As a team, Concordia ranks second in runs per game (7.2), second in steals per game (1.7), third in ERA (4.34), third in batting average (.317) and third in slugging percentage (.443). The highest single-season team batting average in program history was put forth by the 1983 team that hit .338.
Northwestern enters the weekend with a team batting average of .287 (seventh best in the GPAC). The Red Raiders average 5.9 runs per game (eighth in the conference). Their pitching staff sports an ERA of 7.09 and an opponent batting average of .293.
Mitch Peschon headlines the Red Raider offense with a .375 batting average. He has also has team highs for home runs (10), RBIs (40), total bases (99) and slugging percentage (.651) and stolen bases (10). Peschon also has yet to allow an earned run in 7.2 innings out of the bullpen. Their ace pitcher is Chase Davis (3-3, 5.44 ERA).
The final home doubleheader of the 2015 season is slated for Thursday, April 23 when Doane visits Seward. First pitch is set for 5:30 p.m. from Plum Creek Park.