HASTINGS, Neb. – Once again, the Concordia University baseball team got excellent work on the mound from Nick Little and Cade Moring and the bats woke up in time to salvage in split in Friday night’s (March 30) doubleheader at Hastings. After a 2-0 loss in game one, the Bulldogs rebounded with a 4-1 win behind another impressive complete game effort from Little. Head coach Ryan Dupic did not have to turn to his bullpen a single time on Friday.
Dupic’s squad is now 15-10 overall and 3-3 in conference action. The victory in game two was much needed after also suffering a pair of losses at Midland on Tuesday.
“I thought Nick Little was just awesome. He was really good,” Dupic said. “He gave up one unearned run. When we have him on the mound we feel pretty good. Even when we fell behind we knew it was just a matter of scratching one or two across. We got more aggressive on the bases just to try to put some runs on the board. Thomas Sautel had some big at bats and a couple big hits.”
Little just keeps eating up innings. While making his sixth start, the righty from Lithia, Fla., covered all nine frames of game two. He allowed six hits and two walks while striking out 10. The Broncos (9-16, 1-3 GPAC) went scoreless for the final eight innings of the contest. Little is now 5-1 with a 1.12 ERA over 48 innings this season. His slider devastated Hastings in his latest masterpiece.
After the Broncos knocked in an unearned run in the first, Concordia trailed the second game until Sautel’s base hit drove in Logan Ryan in the top of the fifth. The Bulldogs took the lead for good in the seventh thanks to another Sautel RBI single. An inning later, Dylan Jacob provided some breathing room with a two-run single.
The late offensive flurry helped alleviate a frustrating run of 11 innings in a row without a run to begin the day. Concordia got shut down in game one by Hastings hurler Vinny Schmidt, who tossed a four-hit shutout. The Broncos also got a good performance from their game two starter, Austin Vitosh, who surrendered two runs in his seven innings.
Vitosh was a tough-luck loser just like Moring in game one. The Eagar, Ariz., native again featured his wipeout breaking ball that helped him rack up 11 strikeouts in a six-inning complete game. He was coming off a 15-strikeout performance in the GPAC opening win over Mount Marty. Moring entered the day averaging more than 14 strikeouts per nine innings.
“Cade threw a nice first game,” Dupic said. “We had one rough inning but otherwise he was pretty good, too. He’s throwing a really good breaking ball. When he’s gotten into jams he’s been able to rely on that.”
The Bulldogs and Broncos will go head-to-head again on Saturday with play shifting to Plum Creek Park in Seward. The doubleheader is set to begin at 2 p.m. CT. Concordia is 2-0 at home this season having swept Mount Marty last week.