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OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – A strong collective day at the plate combined with the pitching arm of Caden Bugarske ensured that the Concordia University Baseball team would not leave Oklahoma City empty handed. The Bulldogs rebounded from a pair of losses in OKC on Friday and claimed an 11-1 victory over host Oklahoma City University on Saturday (Feb. 10). Five Concordia hitters notched exactly two hits, Bradley Hallock belted a two-run homer and Bugarske covered five solid frames.
Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad went up against Oklahoma City and No. 7 Bellevue University in Friday’s action. The Bulldogs went 1-2 on the weekend while ending on a high note.
“We played well in all facets,” Dupic said. “That’s been our focus and what we’ve been talking about. We were pretty strong defensively – tracked it and ran it down well in the outfield, made some nice plays in the infield and Caden Bugarske threw a really good ballgame. We also ran the bases well. Zack Day came in and put some pressure on them that kept us out of a double play, and Brad Hallock hit the two-run homer that made it 6-0. We would like to think we’re going to swing the bats well, so that was good to see. We want to try to get better in the other areas, and I thought today was a step forward.”
It was a five-run third inning that paved the way for the lopsided final score. In that frame, Alec Blakestad singled home two runs, Tanner Tompkins drove in another with a groundout and Hallock then blasted a two-run homer to left for his second blast of the weekend. Concordia tacked on with two runs in the fourth, two in the sixth and one in the seventh.
Plenty of Bulldogs got in on the act. Players with two hits included Jay Adams, Blakestad, Joey Grabanski, Matt Rhoades and Jaidan Quinn. The slugging third baseman Quinn emerged with an RBI double apiece in the first and seventh innings. Quinn, Blakestad, Hallock and Rhoades each drove in two runs. In addition, Adams, Blakestad and Grabanski all doubled once. At the top of the lineup, Ty Nekoliczak walked twice and scored two runs.
Bugarske made key pitches with runners on base and scattered seven hits in his five innings of work. He recorded six strikeouts to go against just one walk. Out of the bullpen, Dupic turned to Christian Gutierrez (1.1 IP) and Qwin Zabokrtsky (0.2 IP) and both held the Stars scoreless. Oklahoma City (8-2) got its lone run in the fourth inning on Aiden Alexander’s RBI single.
The occasion marked the second year in a row that Concordia opened its season in Oklahoma City. The Bulldogs went 0-3 in 2023 on this same road trip (before going on to finish at 40-18). Early on in ’24, Concordia has an idea of where it currently stands in relation to two other quality NAIA programs.
Said Dupic, “You get exposed when you don’t play well. We made a couple mistakes yesterday and got exposed. If you’re a pitcher and you don’t have your stuff, it’s going to be really hard to get those guys out. It’s good to play competitive teams. Those are teams that have a great chance to be in the national tournament and compete well. It’s good for us to be challenged in that way.”
The Bulldogs are slated to return to action next weekend (Feb. 17-18) for four games in Joplin, Mo. The opponents over those two days will be Dakota State University (S.D.), Graceland University (Iowa) and William Penn University (Iowa). Game locations will be Joplin High School on Feb. 17 and Wendell Redden Stadium on Feb. 18.