OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – The two ballgames played out with very different circumstances, but both resulted in victories for a revamped Concordia University, Nebraska Baseball team. The 20th-ranked Bulldogs opened the 2025 season with a pair of wins over top 25 opponents – 11-7 (eight innings) over No. 23 Oklahoma City University and 2-1 over No. 15 Bellevue University. Potential ace pitcher Alex Johnson made his long-awaited return to the hill as part of action at Jim Wade Stadium in Oklahoma City, Okla., on Friday (Feb. 7).
Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s program entered the season as the GPAC favorite after having strung together four-straight 40-win seasons (one of six NAIA programs to accomplish that feat). Though there were some rocky moments in the opening game, Concordia looked the part of a nationally ranked squad.
“The first one, we weren’t very clean late and it got away from us,” Dupic said. “I was proud of our guys for continuing to battle and put good at bats together. I was pleased with how we hung in there and stayed resilient. Our two starting pitchers were really, really good. Jimmy Blumberg was great, and Alex Draper was great. The bottom of the order gave us a lift … Game two was a really good pitcher’s duel. We haven’t won a ton of games down here (in previous years), so it’s good to win a couple to start.”
The reemergence of Alex Johnson is a major storyline for the ’25 Bulldogs. After missing virtually the entire 2023 and 2024 seasons, Johnson got back on the mound for Friday’s second game. Up against a potent Bruin lineup, Johnson retired 14 of the 16 batters he faced with nine of the outs coming via the strikeout. The only trouble he ran into occurred in the third inning when a wild pitch chased home the lone Bellevue run of the contest. Johnson put away the first two hitters he faced in the fifth before being lifted after 72 pitches.
Thanks to the work of Johnson and reliever DJ Andersen, the Concordia offense needed to push across just two runs. The Bulldogs picked up one in the first on Jaeden Jordahl’s RBI double and then another in the second on Jimmy Blumberg’s sacrifice fly. Returning First Team All-American third baseman Jaidan Quinn scored on Jordahl’s double as part of a game that saw him reach base four times (a double and three walks).
Andersen locked down the final seven outs in the win over Bellevue. He needed only 24 pitches to earn the save. Johnson and Andersen combined on a one-hitter. The Bulldogs also played errorfree behind them. Johnson earned the win in his first start since Feb. 25, 2023.
Said Dupic, “It was really special what he did today. Even more special was the work he put in the last two years and the faith and resilience he’s had. His wife and family were there to support him. That is a really good team that he beat today. Very cool to see.”
The tighter defensive performance was a welcome change after Concordia committed four errors and allowed leads of 4-0 and 7-5 to slip away versus the host Stars. With game tied 7-7 and the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh, OCU had an opportunity to walk it off, but Bulldog reliever Maverick Wylder came through with a strikeout to push the game to the eighth. Concordia responded with four runs, one via a Michael Welch sac fly, another coming on a Blumberg double and two more thanks to a two-run homer by Alex Draper. Wylder then polished the game off with a double play grounder to end it.
Blumberg starred at the plate in the first game while doing 3-for-4 with two runs scored, two doubles and four RBIs. Jordahl and Draper also collected two hits apiece. Part of a revamped outfield with new starters at each position, Draper drove in three runs versus Oklahoma City. At the top of the lineup, Ty Nekoliczak posted a combined three hits, moving his career total to 196.
While Wylder got the win in game one, Braxton Greenburg pitched terrifically as he started and went 5.1 innings with one run allowed on three hits and two walks to go with six strikeouts. He then handed the ball to the likes of Seth Claybourne, Daiten Schmidt and Wylder. The latter covered the final two innings and fanned four hitters. Both OCU and Bellevue made appearances in 2024 NAIA Opening Round.
On day two in Oklahoma City, the Bulldogs will again take on the host school. First pitch of Saturday’s single seven-inning contest is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. CT. Concordia will then be off on Sunday as part of a revised weekend slate (due to cold temperatures expected on Sunday).