SEWARD, Neb. – The first GPAC/Hauff Mid-America Sports Baseball Player of the Week award of the 2023 season has been handed out to Joey Grabanski, as announced on Tuesday (Feb. 28). The junior from Grand Forks, N.D., has collected the award after leading the 21st-ranked Concordia University Baseball team to a four-game sweep of Culver-Stockton College (Mo.). Grabanski has been recognized as the GPAC Player of the Week for the fourth time in his career. He was also recently tabbed the NAIA Ball National Player of the Week (Feb. 14).
Over the four neutral site games with Culver-Stockton, Grabanski went 9-for-16 (.563) with six runs scored, two walks, three home runs and eight RBIs. Grabanski left the yard three times in game two of the series, marking his second three-homer game of the season. Through 11 games in 2023, Grabanski is hitting .452 (19-for-42) with 13 runs, eight homers and 23 RBIs while slugging 1.048. On the current NAIA national leaderboards, Grabanski ranks second in homers and 13th in slugging percentage.
In 123 career games, Grabanski has totaled 110 runs, 170 hits, 43 home runs and 150 RBIs while hitting .383 and slugging .739. The native of Grand Forks, N.D., is a two-time First Team All-GPAC honoree.
The season will continue this Saturday (March 4) when the spring break trip in Florida gets started. Concordia will be in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for a three-game series with No. 25 Keiser University.