CONCORDIA, Kan. – Two teams with GPAC championship aspirations relocated to Concordia, Kan., for a conference doubleheader on Saturday (March 25) afternoon. The Concordia University Baseball team let game one get away from it (10-4 loss) before responding with a 12-6 victory in game two while up against Mount Marty. In the win, Frankie Cresta continued his impressive week on the mound and Ben Berg and Teyt Johnson went a combined 9-for-9 at the plate.
Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad has won three of four games in its opening week of conference play. The Lancers snapped the Bulldogs’ five-game win streak in the first contest while Concordia (17-9, 3-1 GPAC) came back and halted Mount Marty’s eight-game win streak in the capper.
“The positive is we bounced back well in game two,” Dupic said. “We got a good start from Frankie, who had good tempo. Defensively, we made plays and made pitches. We just didn’t do that the first game. We fell behind by too much and we weren’t able to stop the bleeding. We always feel like we’re in the game with our offense, but we just weren’t clean enough that first game. I’m glad we came back well in the next game, and we’ll go from there.”
Jaidan Quinn led off the day with a solo homer (eighth of the season), but Concordia was unable to score again until if found itself behind by a 9-1 score at the end of five innings. The Lancers managed to tag Bulldog game one pitcher Blake Benson for 12 hits and also took advantage of three Concordia errors. Mount Marty first baseman Kiko Nunez went 3-for-3 with four RBIs as the top performer in game one. Two hits apiece were notched by Bulldogs Teyt Johnson, Ty Nekoliczak and Tanner Tompkins.
It was quite a day for Berg and Johnson. They ensured Concordia did not go home empty-handed. Berg went 5-for-5 with a homer while Johnson went 4-for-4 with three runs, a homer and four RBIs as part of the game two onslaught. Joey Grabanski (first inning), Berg (second inning) and Johnson (fourth inning) each homered for the Bulldogs, who rapped out 18 hits. The homer for Grabanski marked his 14th this season and 49th of his career. Six Concordia hitters collected multiple hits in the win.
Cresta put together an impeccable week that included a seven-inning, 13-strikeout shutout of Jamestown on Monday. In his latest outing, the Johnston, Iowa, native covered eight innings, surrendering two runs on eight hits and three walks to go along with five strikeouts. Some ninth inning trouble resulted in the Lancers cutting the final scoring margin to six runs after the Bulldogs had built a 12-2 lead.
Teyt Johnson finished 6-for-7 with three runs, a walk, a home run and five RBIs for the day. Meanwhile, Berg went 5-for-7 and Nekoliczak turned in a 4-for-8 day. Concordia collected 26 total hits against a Mount Marty team that started out 7-0 in league play. The Lancers ended the day at 24-5 overall (7-1 GPAC).
The Bulldogs will be back at home on Sunday to welcome Dakota Wesleyan (3-14, 0-6 GPAC) to Plum Creek Park. First pitch of the doubleheader has been moved to 2 p.m. CT. In last season’s twin bill in mid-March, Concordia racked up a combined 38 runs while sweeping the Tigers.