SEWARD, Neb. – The Concordia University Baseball team would be happy to bottle up its performances from this past weekend and unleash the same type of offensive fiery throughout the upcoming road trip. Coming off a thoroughly dominant four-game sweep of Midland, the Bulldogs are readying to play doubleheaders at Morningside on Friday and at Jamestown on Saturday. This will be the first significant road trip of the conference schedule for Concordia, which has played 10 of its first 12 GPAC games at home. Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad enters the week at 11-1 within the conference (22-7-1 overall).
This Week
Friday, April 8 at Morningside (17-10, 4-8 GPAC), 1 p.m. DH
--Webcast | Live Stats: Game 1 | Game 2
Saturday, April 9 at Jamestown (16-17, 5-7 GPAC), 3 p.m. DH
--Webcast | Live Stats: Game 1 | Game 2
By the numbers
· Every team in the GPAC has now played 12 conference games with Concordia and Doane (11-1 GPAC) having currently separated themselves atop the league. Not far back are Mount Marty (9-3) and Briar Cliff (8-4). Those same four teams are listed at the top of the official GPAC ratings released on NAIA.org on Monday. Concordia and Doane were placed in a tie for first. In all likelihood, both teams will continue to receive votes in the NAIA coaches’ poll that will be unveiled on Wednesday. In the most recent poll, the Bulldogs appeared as the second team among others receiving votes. In other words, Concordia has a shot to jump back into the top 25.
· The four-game set this past weekend looked a lot like the first four games of GPAC play that saw Concordia have its way with Dakota Wesleyan and Hastings. Over four contests with Midland, the Bulldogs outscored the Warriors by a combined total of 60-15 and produced a slash line of .455 BA/.587 OBP/.765 SLG at the plate. Incredibly, four different Concordia players notched at least eight hits in the series: Jaidan Quinn (8-for-12), Alec Blakestad (8-for-14), Keaton Candor (8-for-16) and Jay Adams (8-for-17). Quinn’s series included seven runs scored, two doubles, two home runs, six RBIs and a 1.333 slugging percentage.
· That production resulted in Quinn being named the GPAC Player of the Week. A Bulldog has pulled in that award for the fourth week in a row with Joey Grabanski (March 15 and 22) and Alec Blakestad (March 29) having garnered the honor prior to Quinn. The honors are indicative of an offense that has been the best in the GPAC to this point. Entering this week, Concordia paces the conference in runs scored (307), batting average (.357), on-base percentage (.477), slugging percentage (.638), home runs (59) and walks (171). The top six hitters in the GPAC in terms of on-base percentage are all Bulldogs.
· Right fielder Keaton Candor has clearly established himself as one of the greatest hitters in program history. Last week, the native of Merrill, Iowa, became the third player in school history to reach 200 career hits, joining Zak Goodrich (234) and Christian Meza (216). Candor is the program all-time leader in home runs (36), RBIs (161), bases on balls (99) and games played (195) and is sneaking up on Goodrich’s record for runs scored of 152. Candor is currently at 148 runs. On the season, Candor is hitting .353 with six doubles, seven home runs and 33 RBIs. He is in his fifth season in the program while taking advantage of the ‘COVID year.’
· It’s hard to imagine there being many better leadoff hitters in all of the NAIA than second baseman Jay Adams. The Waverly, Neb., native has perfected the art of driving the ball down the right field line at Plum Creek Park. That ability has helped him pile up 11 home runs – tied with Quinn for the most on the team. Adams currently paces the GPAC in runs scored (41), hits (45) and RBIs (40) while also ranking second in homers. Adams figures to add his name to the 200-hit club list some day. He's a sophomore in terms of eligibility and has racked up 146 career hits while hitting .377 in 104 career collegiate games.
· It’s easy for the pitching staff to be overshadowed by what the offense is doing, but the Bulldogs got quality work last week from the starting hurlers. All four starters last week went at least five innings. The best results came from the Johnsons – Alex and Caden. Alex went six innings and allowed two earned runs on five hits and two walks while striking out four. Caden also covered six innings and surrendered two earned runs on six hits and no walks to go with eight strikeouts. Caden Bugarske and Christian Gutierrez also were credited with ins in solid outings. Among GPAC teams, Concordia ranks second in strikeouts/nine innings (12.11) and third in ERA (4.55).
The opponents
Morningside owns a record of 13-2 outside of league play and is 4-8 within the GPAC. There was nothing easy for the Bulldogs about last season’s home doubleheader with the Mustangs. Concordia needed a two-out, walk-off home run from Joey Grabanski to win 5-4 in game one before Morningside took the second game, 11-7. The Mustang offense has produced a sloid slash line of .303 BA/.401 OBP/.472 SLG. The offensive stars have been Jayson Willers (.376 BA, .456 OBP, 29 RBIs) and Alex Calabrese (6 HR, .681 SLG). The team’s top starting pitcher has been Wade Canaday, who is 4-1 with a 3.48 ERA and K/9 ratio of 10.74. Head Coach Adam Boeve is in his fifth season.
Jamestown won the GPAC tournament title in 2019, the program’s first season as a member of the conference. Head Coach Tom Hager is in his 23rd season leading the Jimmies. Jamestown started out 1-7 in conference play before sweeping a four-game series from Hastings over the past two days. The Jimmies are looking for better results from a pitching staff that sports a 6.60 ERA on the season. The offensive lineup is led by Tayler Cullen, who is hitting .394 with a .451 on-base percentage and .670 slugging percentage. On the mound, Payson Mills has started nine games and owns a 5.82 ERA in 38.2 innings.
Next week
Concordia is slated to finish up the home portion of its 2022 regular season schedule next week when it hosts Doane on April 15 and Mount Marty on April 16. The second day of that homestand will serve as senior day.