VIDEO: Joey Grabanski's walk-off single lifts the Bulldogs in the 11th inning
SEWARD, Neb. – When you roll out one of the nation’s most powerful offensive lineups, you’re never fazed by any deficit. In opening its postseason run, the 19th-ranked Concordia University Baseball team came all the way back from a 9-1 hole and celebrated not long before the stroke of midnight when Joey Grabanski supplied a laser of a walk-off RBI single in the 11th inning on Thursday (May 2). Three innings earlier, Jaidan Quinn evened the score with a two-run bomb to center field.
Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad is aiming for a GPAC tournament championship to go along with its regular season title. Win No. 38 of the season turned out to be a marathon on a cool spring night at Plum Creek Park. The Bulldogs (38-12) have moved to the winner’s bracket in GPAC tournament pod play.
“There was a lot of confidence in our dugout,” Dupic said of the early deficit. “We felt like if we could slow them down offensively, there were a lot of outs to get yet in a nine-inning game. I felt like our guys had a lot of confidence. I believed in them. Our guys know how to win. They know how to compete. They just stayed the course. I knew they would keep fighting. They did a great job, and we made it all the way back.”
The loudest and most significant pings of the bat came from the usual sluggers in Grabanski and Quinn, but Concordia could not have completed its comeback without the work it got from its bullpen. In picking up Christian Gutierrez (seven earned runs in two innings), Logan Fragomeni, Kellen Ingram and Maverick Wylder combined to work nine shutout innings out of the bullpen. A six-run Lancer third inning, highlighted by Will Gardner’s three-run bomb, capped the day’s scoring for the visitors.
As the bullpen dominated, the Bulldogs went to work chipping away from the deficit. Brad Hallock homered to spark a three-run fourth that included a Jay Adams RBI single. Then in the fifth, Tanner Tompkins singled in two runs and Jimmy Blumberg drove in another with a base hit. Three innings later, Quinn belted a two-run shot to center (team high 25th homer of the season) to knot the score, 9-9.
Mount Marty’s Aspen Dahl and Concordia’s Wylder traded zeroes until the bottom of the 11th. The bases were loaded after Blumberg singled, Ty Nekoliczak walked and Quinn was intentionally walked. On a 2-0 pitch from Caden Eyemann, Grabanski hit a bullet off the wall in left to chase Blumberg home for the winning tally. Grabanski finished with a game high four hits while Hallock (3-for-5), Adams (3-for-7) and Blumberg (2-for-4) joined him with multiple hits.
The work of the ‘pen deserves further praise. Fragomeni went 3.1 innings, Ingram worked 2.2 frames (seven strikeouts) and Wylder tossed three shutout innings (no hits) in a series of masterful outings. Wylder set Mount Marty down 1-2-3 in both the 10th and 11th innings while earning his fifth win of the 2024 season.
Said Dupic, “We don’t win that game if the offense doesn’t help us come back, but for our bullpen to get 27 outs without giving up a run is incredible. We had guys stepping up big for us. That’s something we’re going to need if we’re going to be able to continue our season as long as we can. I’m incredibly proud of those guys. They were exceptional.”
Kiko Nunez also homered for the Lancers (28-22), who finished the regular season by dropping two to the Bulldogs this past Sunday in Salina, Kan. Mount Marty’s season will be on the line on Friday when it takes on fourth-seeded Briar Cliff at 3 p.m.
Meanwhile, Concordia will go head-to-head with Midland (31-17) at 12 p.m. CT on Friday in the winner’s bracket. The victor will move clear to Saturday and earn a spot in the finals of the Concordia Bracket. The Warriors got three home runs from Hadyn Crawford in their 12-10 win over Briar Cliff on Thursday. The Bulldogs won three of the four games played against Midland during the regular season.
2024 GPAC Tournament – Concordia Bracket
--Full Bracket
May 2-4 | Plum Creek Park (Seward, Neb.)
--Live Webcasts
--Live Stats
Thursday, May 2
Game 1 – (5) Midland def. (4) Briar Cliff, 12-10
Game 2 – (1) Concordia def. (8) Mount Marty, 10-9 (11 inn.)
Friday, May 3
Game 3 – (1) Concordia vs. (5) Midland, 12 p.m.
Game 4 – (4) Briar Cliff vs. (8) Mount Marty, 3 p.m.
Game 5 – Game 4 Winner vs. Game 3 Loser, 6 p.m.
Saturday, May 4
Game 6 – Game 3 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner, 12 p.m.
Game 7 – Game 6 Winner vs. Game 6 Loser, 3 p.m. (if necessary)