SEWARD, Neb. – After slugging its way to dominant wins this past weekend, the Concordia University Baseball team showed it could grind out the close ones on Thursday (March 24). The Bulldogs won both ends of the latest doubleheader by identical 4-3 final scores in a sweep of visiting Northwestern on a chilly evening at Plum Creek Park. A strike-‘em-out-throw-‘em-out double play ended game one and then Alec Blakestad supplied a check-swing walk-off RBI single to close out a drama-filled day.
Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad is out to a sparkling 6-0 start within conference play (17-6-1 overall). Concordia is proving that it can win games in different ways.
“Really pleased to be able to make enough pitches and enough plays and have enough good at bats to come up big and win those close games,” Dupic said. “That’s something we haven’t really done a great job of this year. I still think there was a play or two that got away from us that made it a little tighter. We caught a break or two in certain situations. We got a couple big wins against a good team in a tough day.”
The colder temperatures did not necessarily make for a hitter’s paradise, but the Red Raider pitching staff did a commendable job of holding Concordia to a combined nine hits on the day. The Bulldogs came through with the ones they had to have, including a solo homer by Jay Adams in the fourth inning of game one and a two-run shot by Jaidan Quinn an inning later. As part of a three-run fifth, Caleb Lemon also scored on a wild pitch.
That production got the job done with the help of a strong start on the mound by Alex Johnson. He tossed five innings and allowed only one run on three hits and two walks while recording eight strikeouts. Shane Whittaker then polished off game one by notching the final six outs in the process of picking up the save.
In game two, most of the offense came in the second inning. Ty Nekoliczak forced home a run with a bases-loaded walk and Adams came through in the clutch with a two-out, two-run single. The Bulldogs then waited until the bottom of the seventh to score again. The always reliable Adams led it off with a rocket shot of a double to center. Three batters later, Blakestad’s check swing resulted in a looper that cleared the glove of a leaping shortstop and sent Adams racing to the plate.
Said Blakestad, “I was just looking for a ball to hit hard. I saw the slider. I didn’t swing fully, but it ended up working out … Our pitching staff threw really well. They were able to not let them score in some pretty tight situations. It was an impressive job by Shane and Buck (Nathan Buckallew) keep us tight.”
Four Concordia pitchers appeared in game two, including Caden Bugarske, Jacob Lycan, Buckallew and Whittaker. The latter walked the bases loaded in the seventh before freezing a Red Raider hitter with a breaking ball for strike three to end the threat. Whittaker picked up a win and a save on the day.
Adams and Blakestad collected three hits apiece on the day while leading an attack that wasn’t able to explode the way it has in several recent outings. Northwestern’s Brett Shelton worked a solid six-inning complete game in the first contest on Thursday. However, very few teams are able to keep Adams off base at the top of the lineup.
Said Dupic, “Jay is so huge for us. He just hits – the solo home run the first game, the big RBI single and the double in the last inning. He does an exceptional job. Coach (Caleb) Lang and Coach (Wade) Council were adamant this offseason that Alec was fantastic. His at-bats, his practice sessions and his swings were really, really good. We knew he was a plus ahlete. I think last year was good for him to play a little bit and understand what this is about. We’re seeing him operate on a more even keel from day-to-day. When he does that, it allows his talent to come out and he’s a special player.”
The Bulldogs and Red Raiders will go at it again on Friday with another twin bill set for 3 p.m. CT from Plum Creek Park. Dating back to last season, Concordia has won five of the last six matchups with Northwestern (10-12, 2-4 GPAC).