YANKTON, S.D. – Postponements last weekend meant the Concordia University baseball team was forced to wait to open up the conference portion of the 2019 schedule. The well-rested Bulldogs got stellar pitching performances from lefties Jason Munsch and Sasha Jabusch in a Friday (March 22) doubleheader sweep of Mount Marty in Yankton, S.D. Concordia won by scores of 4-2 and 9-1.
Fifth-year head coach Ryan Dupic’s squad had last seen game action back on March 9 at the Tucson Invitational. The Bulldogs are now 8-10 overall.
“Not being on the field for a long time is an easy thing to use as a potential excuse, but our guys were excited to play,” Dupic said. “I thought we were in a good place mentally. Obviously it helps when you get two good starts. Our guys really stayed in it. We had a couple plays we didn’t make and we responded really well and were able to get through those innings instead of them blowing up on us. When things didn’t go our way we hung with it – just a good mentality throughout the day.”
Munsch and Jabusch both worked at least seven innings while mastering the Lancer opposition. In the opener, Munsch faced his biggest challenges in the third and seventh innings. In that final frame, Munsch surrendered a two-run homer and then allowed two hitters to reach base with only one out. He proceeded to strike out the last two batters to polish off a complete game. Munsch finished with nine strikeouts while allowing five hits and three walks.
Jabusch was just as good in game two. He went 7.2 innings, struck out eight and scattered six hits and two walks. Once Jabusch reached the end of his leash in the eighth, Dylan DuRee came out of the bullpen and got the last four outs – all on strikeouts.
Bulldog hitters struck for a combined 19 hits on the day. Evan Bohman and Wade Council both homered in game one. Catcher Ben Berg also went 2-for-3 with an RBI and Christian Meza added two hits in the opener. In the capper, Bohman concluded a nice day by going 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI. Out of the leadoff spot, Council collected a pair of doubles and drove in one run.
Concordia never once trailed in the doubleheader. It led 4-0 in game one and pulled away in game two by scoring four runs in the fourth and four in the ninth.
Mount Marty (10-11, 2-4 GPAC) was held to a combined 12 hits on Friday. Gabriel Leon enjoyed a 3-for-6 day at the plate for the Lancers, who had split a four-game series with Dakota Wesleyan in their opening weekend of GPAC play.
The Bulldogs are hoping to return to action on Sunday with a doubleheader against Dakota Wesleyan (9-11, 4-2 GPAC). First pitch was originally slated for 1 p.m. CT from Caldwell Park in Mitchell, S.D. The two sides are currently working on a neutral location to stage the two games. For the fastest updates on schedule changes, be sure to follow @cunebulldogs on Twitter.