WICHITA, Kan. – Despite drawing first blood in both ends of Tuesday’s doubleheader, the Concordia University baseball team left Wichita, Kan., empty handed. Host Friends University (Kan.) swept the twin bill, winning by scores of 7-3 and 10-7.
Third-year head coach Ryan Dupic’s squad was fresh off taking three of four weekend games. The Bulldogs slipped to 11-9 overall.
“Our offensive guys had good at bats today through both games. We squared a lot of balls up against some good pitching,” Dupic said. “We were good enough to win offensively, but we couldn’t complete the job on the other side of the ball. With the exception of Neil Ryan, our pitching wasn’t good enough and neither was our defense. We got what we deserved.”
According to the NAIA’s official conference ratings, Tuesday’s matchup featured the GPAC’s No. 2 team versus the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference’s No. 3 squad. Concordia fell in game 1 after striking first with two runs in the top of the first. After Berg led off with a walk, Christian Montero drove him in with a double. Two batters later, Montero scored on Jason Galeano’s sacrifice fly. The Bulldogs still led, 3-2, after four innings, before letting the contest get away from them.
Friends swept Concordia by pounding out 19 hits and by taking advantage of nine free passes on the day. The second game was even more frustrating than the first with the Bulldogs jumping out to a 6-0 lead, courtesy of three runs in both the second and third frames, only to cave in when the Falcons exploded for eight runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Concordia actually outhit Friends in game 2, 11-9. Three different Bulldogs had multiple hits in the capper: Christian Meza (3-for-4, RBI), Kaleb Geiger (2-for-4, RBI) and Galeano (2-for-4). Johnny May doubled and drove in two runs.
Ryan was the bright spot for the pitching staff. He worked 5.2 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits and three walks while striking out three. He left the game with Concordia leading 7-2. Bulldog relievers struggled mightily to get the final out of the sixth inning.
Troy Puga and Jace Snodgrass both went 4-for-6 in the doubleheader for Friends (18-10). Each of the top three Falcon hitters in the lineup had two hits in game 1.
The Bulldogs will attempt to rebound this weekend when they begin conference play. Concordia will host Northwestern (9-10) in a twin bill at 2 p.m. CT on Friday. It will then welcome Dordt (7-10) to Seward for a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday.