SEWARD, Neb. – On a second-straight day of chilly and breezy action from Plum Creek Park, the Concordia University Baseball team tightened up its pitching and defense and earned a much-needed doubleheader sweep of Mount Marty. The Bulldogs took both ends of Saturday (April 16)’s twin bill by scores of 4-1 while getting masterful starting pitching from Christian Gutierrez and Caden Johnson. In between contests, Concordia celebrated a group of seven seniors, including one of its all-time great hitters in Keaton Candor.
In terms of the GPAC standings, the two wins were significant in that Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad leapfrogged back in front of Mount Marty (28-12, 13-7 GPAC) for second place. The Bulldogs (25-12-1, 14-6 GPAC) aspire to finish as a top-two conference seed.
“The senior day ceremonies between games always make me a little bit reflective and you think back how everybody has a story,” Dupic said. “How that story brings them to Concordia is pretty neat. I’m glad that we were able to have a good day today and honor that situation. It was a couple good ballgames.
“They (Gutierrez and Johnson) mixed their pitches well and have the ability to throw secondary stuff for a strike. That made all the difference. Christian did an excellent job of that right away, kept them off balance and was able to work the changeup in there as well. Caden Johnson has been working really hard on one of his secondary pitches and it was much more effective today.”
Since the start of last season, the Bulldogs have become known as a powerful offense. But the weather conditions made it difficult to play long ball this weekend. That’s no problem when the pitching is this good. In game one, Gutierrez (La Mirada, Calif.) went all seven innings and allowed only one run on two hits and three walks while notching five strikeouts. The Lancers did not get on the board until there was one out in the seventh.
It took until the eighth inning of game two before Mount Marty crossed home plate. Johnson went 7.1 shutout innings and racked up nine strikeouts to go against only one walk (two hits allowed). The righty from Papillion, Neb., surrendered an infield single to start the game and gave up just one additional single the rest of his outing. Nathan Buckallew got the last two outs in the top of the eighth and Jacob Lycan came on to nail down the save in the ninth.
In that first contest, Concordia came up with two-first inning runs with the help of two walks, an error, a wild pitch and a double steal. Alec Blakestad provided some breathing room in the sixth when he belted a two-run homer to left. It was the only homer of the weekend for a Bulldog offense that had to find unique ways to score.
Concordia scored twice in game two via RBI sacrifice bunts, including one apiece from Ty Nekoliczak and Tanner Tompkins. Joey Grabanski and Jay Adams also knocked in one reach each with an RBI single. Every one of those at bats provided a big blow to Mount Marty, which managed only a combined six hits on the day. Ben Berg (2-for-6) and Jaidan Quinn (2-for-5) were the only Bulldogs to collect multiple hits on Saturday.
Concordia won’t complain. In sum, it was a successful senior day. As part of the festivities, Candor received a bat to commemorate his 200th career hit. Said Candor, “It was pretty special. Everybody’s families were here. My whole family was here. It just made it really special. Being around here for five years, I’ve grown very close with everybody. It’s a little hard, but there’s still a lot of baseball to play.”
If the weather warms and the Bulldogs can continue to prevent runs like this, they have the potential to make another postseason push. Said Dupic, “If our pitching and defense can be solid then we have a lot of belief and confidence. The thing I was pleased about offensively today is we did some different things – the double steal in the first game and we had some bunts to get guys home. It’s not something we’ve done a lot this year, but it’s nice to be able to reach into that bag when we have to.”
In addition to Candor, the senior class that was recognized on Saturday includes Buckallew, Noah Janssen, Thomas Otte, Shane Whittaker, Dresden Wilson and Andy Xapsos.
The final eight games of the regular season will all be on the road. Up next, the Bulldogs will be at Dordt (12-24, 8-12 GPAC) for a four-game series next weekend (April 22-23). First pitch is set for 4 p.m. CT on the first day and 1 p.m. on day two. Last season Concordia swept a four-game home set from the Defenders.