YANKTON, S.D. – Casey Berg knocked the ball around the yard while serving as the ringleader for an explosive Bulldog offensive attack on Friday evening. The Concordia University baseball team totaled 27 hits while sweeping a doubleheader from host Mount Marty, 7-4 and 11-5, in Yankton, S.D.
Third-year head coach Ryan Dupic’s squad now stands at 14-12 overall and has evened its conference mark at 3-3.
“Up and down the lineup it was a very good day,” Dupic said. “I thought this was the most complete we’ve played as a team. There are ups and downs during the conference season and you have to stay on an even keel. I thought our guys did a really nice job of that. They came out ready to play today.”
Berg is scorching like a July Nebraska summer day. On Friday, he went a combined 6-for-10 with a pair of home runs, allowing him to take over the team long ball lead (six on the season). The native of Manning, Iowa, doubled in his first at bat of the day. An inning later, he belted a two-run homer to boost the Bulldog lead to 3-0. Berg also went deep in the second frame of game 2.
He wasn’t alone. Concordia hitters especially wore out Mount Marty pitching in the night cap when they sprayed around 17 hits. Berg (3-for-6), Kaleb Geiger (3-for-4) and Christian Meza (3-for-6) each had three hits. Meanwhile, Wade Council and Jason Galeano both went 2-for-5. Geiger homered and doubled as part of the onslaught. At no point on Friday did the Bulldogs find themselves facing a deficit.
All that offensive output made it a more comfortable day for Concordia hurlers. When Josh Prater (3.1 innings, four runs, two earned runs) ran into trouble, Dupic went to the bullpen and got excellent work from Nic Seaman, who stretched out for 3.1 scoreless innings while picking up the win. In game 2, Nick Little bounced back with a six-inning performance in which he surrendered only one earned run on eight hits. Jake Fosgett covered the final three frames, struck out six hitters and earned the save.
“They were huge for us,” Dupic said of Seaman and Fosgett. “Seaman came in and pitched as well as he has all year. He was fantastic. He had his fastball and his slider working. Nick Fosgett also had the best outing he’s had this year. He had good breaking stuff, good fastball. I’m just really proud of our bullpen and our starters. They threw on short rest and I thought they battled really well. It was a good all-around day.”
In game 1, three Bulldogs recorded multiple hits: Berg (3-for-4), Council (2-for-2) and Jake Adams (2-for-3). Concordia notched 10 hits in the opener and then 17 more hits in the capper. The Bulldogs are averaging 7.5 runs per game (second most in the GPAC).
Mount Marty (9-15, 3-3 GPAC) had entered the day with a 3-1 conference mark. The Lancers swept a twin bill with Briar Cliff and then split with Dakota Wesleyan. On Friday, Mount Marty just couldn’t figure out Concordia’s hitters. The Lancer starting pitchers gave up a combined 12 earned runs in 7.1 innings.
The Bulldogs will have Saturday off before hitting the road for another conference twin bill. Concordia will go up against Morningside (19-11, 4-2 GPAC), the 2016 GPAC tournament champion, in Sioux City, Iowa, at 1 p.m. CT on Sunday. Before welcoming Concordia, the Mustangs will host Midland on Saturday.