WATCH: Concordia homers nine times in doubleheader sweep
SEWARD, Neb. – One day after the wind howled straight in at Moller Field in Fremont, the conditions were reversed at Plum Creek Park in Seward. The 17th-ranked Concordia University Baseball team used the wind to its advantage on Sunday (April 7) while homering nine times in a home doubleheader sweep of Midland. The Bulldogs walloped the Warriors by scores of 10-2 and 14-4. While leaving the yard twice on Sunday, Joey Grabanski moved within one home run of the NAIA’s all-time record.
Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad took three of four in the weekend series with Midland. The two sides split Saturday’s pair of contests in Fremont. Concordia (28-9, 12-4 GPAC) closed out the series by executing in all facets on the home diamond.
“Weather’s been quite a factor,” Dupic said. “Yesterday it was blowing in about 30 miles per hour. Today it was blowing out 20-to-25 miles per hour. It’s a really different ballgame depending on what type of day you play in the Midwest. Our guys did a good job. They had good at bats, hit the baseball hard and got it up in the air. We had a couple that the wind really helped and some that went really far too. Our offensive guys did a really good job.”
Grabanski homered twice on the day and so too did teammates Alec Blakestad and Matt Rhoades. Meanwhile, Jay Adams, Ty Nekoliczak and Jaidan Quinn blasted a long ball apiece. The Bulldogs immediately set the tone for the day when Quinn crushed a no-doubter of a solo shot and Rhoades pulverized a three-run homer in the opening frame. Concordia’s first eight runs of the day all came via home runs as Grabanski lifted a two-run bomb to left and Blakestad followed with a solo homer to right center as part of a four-run fourth.
The series finale was tight through the first three innings (2-2 tie) before the Bulldogs exploded for six runs apiece in the fourth and sixth innings. Blakestad and Nekoliczak notched three hits apiece in the day’s second game in leading an attack that rapped out 26 hits in the doubleheader. The home runs in the series finale came from Rhoades in the second (solo), Adams in the third (solo), Grabanski in the sixth (two-run) and Blakestad in the sixth (solo).
There were six Concordia players with at least three hits for the day: Nekoliczak (5-for-7), Blakestad (5-for-8), Rhoades (3-for-6), Quinn (3-for-6), Grabanski (3-for-7) and Adams (3-for-8). This is a lineup that salivates when it sees the wind blowing out. The Bulldogs smelled blood in the water on Sunday.
Said Blakestad, “We feel confident we’re going to be better than any pitching that we go up against. Yesterday the wind was blowing in. Today we hit those balls, and they went out. We had had a lot of fun today.”
The pitching staff got all the support it could have asked for. The Bulldogs did not commit a single error and were lifted up by strong starts from righties Braxton Greenburg and Caden Johnson. Greenburg went all seven innings in game three of the series and allowed two runs on three hits and three walks to go along with 10 strikeouts. Johnson then took the ball and went 5.1 innings with just one hit surrendered. His five walks allowed resulted in four runs. However, Johnson had the strikeout stuff (nine K’s) working and was aided by a highlight reel diving stop from Nekoliczak to end the top of the fifth. Jacob Lycan (1.0 IP) and Logan Fragomeni (0.2 IP) combined to record the final five outs of a contest that was scheduled to go nine innings (but was shortened by the run rule).
Johnson earned his 22nd career win, a number that ranks No. 3 in program history. Said Dupic, “We got a really good start out of Braxton today. Caden Johnson threw the ball well too. He was really close to being special today. He took another step in the right direction. When we get good starts, we’re a pretty good baseball team. Our defensive was sound today.”
Grabanski will have to wait nearly a week to resume his pursuit of the NAIA’s all-time home run record. After Sunday’s action, he stands at 76 career home runs. That total puts him behind only Brice Cutspec (77) of Azusa Pacific University. With a full year left to play, Quinn owns 65 career homers to his credit.
The Bulldogs are scheduled to play their next six games on the road. That stretch begins next weekend (April 13-14) with a four-game series at Morningside (22-12, 9-5 GPAC). Doubleheaders are slated to get underway at 1 p.m. CT both days from MercyOne Field in Sioux City, Iowa. The Mustangs joined Concordia in the 2023 NAIA national qualifying field.