2022 NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 Preseason Poll
ORDER: “Concordia Baseball: A Dream Season”
SEWARD, Neb. – After finishing last season as one of the final 10 teams in the nation left standing, the Concordia University Baseball program will head into 2022 carrying a national ranking. The Bulldogs landed at No. 18 with 252 points in the 2022 NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 Preseason Poll released on Wednesday (Nov. 3). Naturally, Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad will also be the favorite in the GPAC.
The ’21 team set a new standard for the program as it won 42 games and advanced to the NAIA World Series for the first time ever. The list of accomplishments also included GPAC regular season and postseason titles, an NAIA World Series appearance and a program record 90 home runs. Staff ace Jake Fosgett was named the GPAC Pitcher of the Year and an NAIA honorable mention All-American.
Prior to last season, the program had never achieved an NAIA top 25 ranking in the official coaches’ poll. The 2022 preseason poll now extends Concordia’s streak of consecutive top 25 poll appearances to seven. The Bulldogs jumped into the rankings at No. 24 on March 17 and then closed the 2021 campaign with a No. 12 ranking, which followed the NAIA World Series.
Concordia will return the bulk of its offensive firepower from last season’s record-breaking squad. The group of star returnees will include First Team All-GPAC selections in Jayden Adams, Keaton Candor and Joey Grabanski and Second Team All-GPAC honorees in Ben Berg and Jesse Garcia. On the flip side, the Bulldogs must replace Fosgett and other dependable starting pitchers Nick Little and Trent Wood.
The 2022 schedule is set to be unveiled soon. It will be promoted both on the website and through Concordia Athletics social media channels.
NAIA national rankings in 2021
Nov. 4 – RV
March 17 – 24
March 31 – 20
April 14 – 22
April 28 – 20
May 12 – 19
June 9 – 12