By Sam Firminhac, Athletic Communications
JOPLIN, Mo. – The bats were hot for the 18th-ranked Concordia University Baseball team, which put up 32 runs in two neutral site games on Saturday (Feb. 19). The Bulldogs faced William Woods University (Mo.) in their first matchup of the day, winning, 11-2. They then turned around and blew out the University of Saint Mary (Kan.), 21-2, later in the evening. Jayden Adams had another stellar performance on the day racking up six hits and three doubles.
After a split doubleheader earlier in the week, Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad came out and showed why they were ranked in the top 20 nationally to begin the 2022 season. They improved to 3-1 in the early season.
“The scoreboard told the story pretty well,” Dupic said. “We were very good offensively today. It was a nice day to play, and our guys had a lot of good at-bats. We were pleased in the second game that we were able to extend it a little better. We came out really fast the first game and scored 10 runs over the first three innings but then slowed down a little bit over the back half of the game. We were very pleased with the second game in terms of the quality of our at-bats.”
Adams wasn’t the only Bulldog who was seeing the ball well. Jesse Garcia had four hits on the day. Keaton Candor managed five hits in the two games, including two doubles. Freshman second baseman Ty Nekoliczak had a great performance with four hits and an RBI. Jaidan Quinn tallied three hits in the second of the two games.
Concordia's pitchers were also dominant in only allowing six runs in total. In the first game, Caden Bugarske got the nod and went five innings, only allowing three hits while striking out three. In the second game, Caden Johnson was lights out, striking out 11 in five innings of work. Johnson only allowed one hit in his scoreless five innings.
Said Dupic, “I was pleased with our pitching, which gets overlooked on days like this. It’s easier to pitch when you have that kind of lead. Caden Bugarske threw five shutout innings in the first game and Caden Johnson threw five shutout innings in the second game.”
Despite the strong performance from the Bulldogs on Saturday, Dupic still feels like there is room for improvement.
Said Dupic, “We need to get better in all facets. Amidst hitting the baseball well, we want to see that same growth on the mound and defensively. We did some good things in those areas today too.”
Concordia will be able to do just that tomorrow, as they play two more games in Joplin MO. The Bulldogs will face Viterbo University (Wis.) at 3 p.m. CT Sunday. They will wrap up their trip with an evening matchup against William Penn University (Iowa). The first pitch for the second game is set for 5:30 p.m. CT.