SEWARD, Neb. – The 2021 regular-season slate for the Concordia University Baseball program has been made public, as of Sept. 10. Currently, the schedule features 28 GPAC games and 11 nonconference clashes. The week of spring break (March 6-13) is still in the process of being finalized. Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad is earmarked to begin the 2021 season in Winfield, Kan., on Feb. 13.
The Bulldogs will be eager to return to the diamond after having the 2020 campaign cut short. Before being shut down by the pandemic, Concordia went 14-7, a mark highlighted by a dominant doubleheader sweep (combined 33-1 score) of Briar Cliff on March 13. The Bulldogs appeared poised for another spring of GPAC title contention behind star pitchers Jason Munsch and Nick Little. Munsch is now a member of the Milwaukee Brewers organization.
The 2021 nonconference portion of the schedule features matchups with the likes of Southwestern College (Kan.), Presentation College (S.D.) and College of the Ozarks (Mo.). Concordia will participate in the Rube Foster Classic in Kansas City, Mo., over the weekend of Feb. 20-21. The program also hopes to play a series of games to be announced during spring break. In recent years, the Bulldogs have traveled to the Tucson Invitational during that time.
The home opener is set for March 20 when Midland will be in town for the beginning of GPAC play. Concordia will attempt to defend the GPAC regular-season title that it captured in 2019. Dupic welcomes back a veteran team that figures to have high expectations once again. A large number of 2019-20 seniors have returned to use the extra year of eligibility that was granted by the NAIA. This past spring, Little (4-0, 1.32 ERA) was stellar on the mound while Jesse Garcia (seven homers) and Keaton Candor (five homers) supplied powerful bats.
The conference tournament will again be comprised of two pods played at the home fields of the top two seeds. GPAC postseason pod play will take place May 6-8 with the conference championship game set for May 11. The NAIA National Championship Opening Round will unfold May 17-20 with the NAIA World Series to follow in Lewiston, Idaho, May 28-June 4.