SABETHA, Kan. – The first weekend of spring break will be spent in Sabetha, Kan., for the Concordia University Baseball team. One rough inning doomed the Bulldogs in game 1 of Saturday (March 6)’s neutral site doubleheader with Grand View University (Iowa). After a 7-5 defeat, Concordia slugged its way to a 13-2 rout of the Vikings in game 2. The Bulldogs powdered five home runs in the capper.
Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad had been idle since taking three in a four-game series at College of the Ozarks (Feb. 26-27). Now in the middle of a four-gamer with Grand View, Concordia stands at 6-2 overall.
“We swung the bats really well in the second game,” Dupic said. “Trent Wood gave us another nice start and Caden Johnson finished it from there. We played a much more clean game and were much better. Hopefully we can take that into tomorrow. Grand View’s first pitcher threw the ball well and had us off balance and they had a solid offensive team. It’s a good team for us to play as we get ready for league play in a few weeks.”
Jakob Faulk went deep twice in the second game while Jesse Garcia, Joey Grabanski and Ben Martin homered once apiece in the outburst. It was plenty of run support for Wood, who made his third career start with the Bulldogs. Wood allowed two runs over 5.1 innings. Caden Johnson then got the final five outs to wrap up the contest. In another notable moment, Peyton Scott recorded a steal of home.
Five Viking runs came across in one bad inning of game 1. Concordia starting pitcher Jake Fosgett exited the game with a 2-0 lead and one out in the fifth inning. Grand View quickly followed with a bases clearing triple that turned the game around. Dupic cited defensive gaffes and runners left on base as factors that played a role in the loss. AJ Cotton, Jacob Lycan and Ben Coldiron threw out of the bullpen in game 1.
The same two sides will meet again for a 1 p.m. CT doubleheader on Sunday. All games are being held at Wilber Bestwick Park in Sabetha. Grand View owns a record of 3-3 on the season. Due to the neutral site location, live updates are limited. Follow @CUNEathletics on Twitter for updates as they come available.