SEWARD, Neb. – The Concordia University baseball team struggled to string anything together offensively as its home stand continued on senior day Saturday. Visiting Briar Cliff spoiled the fun by taking contests by scores of 3-1 and 3-2 in the Plum Creek Park matinee. The Bulldogs were limited to a combined 11 hits while up against Charger starting pitchers Zayne Mowen and Matt Wesselmann.
Third-year head coach Ryan Dupic’s squad remains in the thick of the conference title race despite being swept on Saturday. Concordia now stands at 23-18 overall and at 12-8 in GPAC play (one loss behind Midland, which is 15-7 in the conference).
“I think right now we’re letting certain things affect us too much and we’re not responding very well,” Dupic said. “Baseball can be a very humbling game sometimes.
“He’s been very consistent,” Dupic said of senior pitcher Josh Prater. “He’s just really steady and did a nice job again today. Then with Cade (Moring), he was pitching so well we left him in. We certainly did pitch pretty well today, which is promising because we need to as we move forward.”
The Bulldogs pitched well enough to take both ends of the twin bill. In game one, Prater did not allow a single earned run in a seven-inning complete game performance. He allowed five hits and two walks while striking out four. In game 2, Moring went 5.1 innings, allowing only a single run on one hit and two walks. He punched out seven Charger hitters before giving way to the bullpen.
The Concordia offense just never got clicking. All the Bulldogs could muster in the first game was a seventh-inning RBI single by Tyler Nelson. In the capper, Ryan Fesmire knocked in a run with a ground out and Thomas Sautel sent a run to the plate in the ninth on a pinch hit double. The drama-filled ninth ended with Jason Galeano flying out to right with two outs and the bases loaded.
A group of 15 seniors was honored between games on Saturday. The large class includes productive leadoff hitter Casey Berg and middle-of-the-order sluggers like Galeano and Christian Montero.
The Bulldogs have dropped four of their last five games. They’re looking to return to the form that saw them win nine-consecutive GPAC contests not long ago. Concordia will again host Briar Cliff (16-28, 9-13 GPAC) on Sunday. First pitch is locked in for 1 p.m. CT.