JAMESTOWN, N.D. – Jamestown found success early against Bulldog starting pitching on Saturday (April 9) and earned a doubleheader sweep of the Concordia University Baseball team. The Bulldogs lost in North Dakota by scores of 10-6 and 8-7 as part of a long night that included two separate delays in the second contest. Concordia dropped the first game despite getting a home run apiece from Tanner Tompkins, Keaton Candor and Ben Berg.
Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad went 1-3 on the weekend road trip having also split Friday’s twin bill at Morningside. The Bulldogs slipped to 23-10-1 overall (12-4 GPAC). Said Dupic, “They did a better job than we did of making big pitches and defensive plays. That was the difference in the ballgames.”
The two programs had met in the GPAC tournament championship game in 2019. After a 1-7 start to conference play this season, the Jimmies have won six straight within the conference. Their offense clicked on Saturday and chased both Concordia starting pitchers before they could make it through four innings. Jamestown build a 9-3 lead in game one behind a three-homer performance from designated hitter Luke Shekeryk. The Bulldogs never recovered, although a three-run blast by Berg in the sixth made it interesting.
Game two could have gone either way. The Jimmies (18-17, 7-7 GPAC) got the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth on Tayler Cullen’s RBI single. Then in the ninth, Joey Grabanski’s deep drive to center appeared to have cleared the wall, but was brought back thanks to a fine play by Quade Peters. Concordia went 1-2-3 in the ninth.
While not as explosive as last weekend, the Bulldog offense produced solidly on Saturday. Seven Concordia batters collected at least two hits on the day. Jaidan Quinn continues to be an on-base machine. He went 3-for-6 with two walks in the doubleheader. Candor also recorded three hits (and three RBIs) for the day. Ty Nekoliczak came through with a two-run double in the second contest.
Bulldog pitchers surrendered 16 earned runs on Saturday. Christian Gutierrez started the first game and Caden Johnson got the nod in game two. Shane Whittaker used his nasty stuff to strike out five batters in 1.2 innings of relief. Eight total hurlers were used by Dupic in the doubleheader.
The Bulldogs will have plenty of time to recover from the long trip north as they now prepare to host doubleheaders this coming Friday and Saturday (April 15-16) as part of Easter weekend. On Good Friday, Concordia will welcome Doane (24-7, 13-1 GPAC) to Plum Creek Park for a 1 p.m. CT doubleheader. The two programs shared the GPAC regular season title in 2021.