FORT SCOTT, Kan. – Thiis offensive lineup is relentless. The Concordia University Baseball team went deep seven times on Saturday (Feb. 24) and paraded around the bases for a combined 40 runs in a doubleheader sweep of Culver-Stockton College (Mo.). The Bulldogs won by scores of 23-6 and 17-2 while playing at the LaRoche Baseball Complex in Fort Scott, Kan. Concordia piled up 41 hits and took 14 walks while abusing Wildcat pitching.
Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad appears to be finding its groove. The Bulldogs swept two games from No. 16 Kansas Wesleyan University on Tuesday and have improved to 6-3 on the season.
“Culver-Stockton has played some really good teams and been right there with them,” Dupic said. “We didn’t expect this at all, but offensively our guys did a really nice job. They had terrific strike zone discipline. They didn’t expand the zone and they walked a lot of guys. We had a lot of success and just did a really good job offensively for sure.”
Concordia set the tone on Saturday by scoring 16 times in the second inning of game one. Just about everyone got in on the fun. Alec Blakestad belted a grand slam as part of that second frame before Tanner Tompkins delivered a three-run homer in the fourth and the freshman sensation Matt Rhoades cracked a two-run blast in the fifth. Rhoades went 4-for-6 in that first game while Ty Nekoliczak reached base in all five plate appearances (3-for-3 with two walks).
The major explosion of game two occurred in the fourth when the Bulldogs racked up eight runs. In that frame, Jaidan Quinn and Rhoades pummeled a two-run homer apiece. For good measure, Quinn also homered in the fifth and surpassed 50 home runs for his Concordia career (third season). Quinn notched four hits and three teammates collected three hits in game two: Jay Adams, Blakestad and Nekoliczak.
Below is a quick summary of Bulldogs who totaled at least four hits in the doubleheader.
· Ty Nekoliczak: 6-for-7, five runs, one triple, five RBIs, three walks.
· Matt Rhoades: 6-for-10, four runs, one double, two home runs, five RBIs.
· Jaidan Quinn: 5-for-6, six runs, two doubles, two home runs, six RBIs, two walks.
· Alec Blakestad: 5-for-7, three runs, three doubles, one home run, seven RBIs, one walk.
· Jay Adams: 4-for-6, five runs, one home run, three RBIs, one walk, three stolen bases.
· Brad Hallock: 4-for-8, four runs, three RBIs, one walk.
Both Concordia starting pitchers earned wins on the day. Blake Benson worked five innings in game one and surrendered five runs (four earned) on nine hits and a walk while fanning nine hitters. In game two, Christian Gutierrez covered five frames and gave up two runs (one earned) on four hits and three walks to go along with eight strikeouts. Dupic used just one reliever in both games as Nate Weaver tossed two innings in game one and DJ Anderson fired two scoreless frames in game two. Defensively, Concordia made two errors for the day. Dupic commended Jose Cevallos for stepping in at shortstop after Jimmy Blumberg had to be removed.
The weekend series will continue on Sunday with another 1 p.m. CT doubleheader versus Culver-Stockton. Box scores will populate via the NAIA scoreboard located HERE. Due to the games being played at a neutral site, there will not be live coverage.