JOPLIN, Mo. – A dominant weekend of action in Joplin, Mo., concluded late on Sunday (Feb. 20) night as the 18th-ranked Concordia University Baseball team posted wins by scores of 14-3 over Viterbo University (Wis.) and 8-1 over William Penn University (Iowa). Both contests were seven-inning games that took place at Wendell Redden Stadium in Joplin. On the day, the Bulldogs recorded a combined 24 hits and the pitching staff surrendered only two earned runs.
Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad also defeated both William Woods University (Mo.) and the University of Saint Mary (Kan.) on Saturday. Concordia (5-1) outscored its four weekend opponents by a combined total of 54-10.
“I was pleased with how we played on Sunday,” Dupic said. “Our bullpen really did a great job in that first game. We went to try to establish some depth. It was great to see our lineup keep pushing runs across and our bullpen step up and do a great job. I think depth needs to be a strong point of our team this year.
“In game two, William Penn’s a good team. They’re going to win a lot of games and have a good season. They’ve always had a good program. Alex Johnson had a really good start and we made some nice defensive plays. Our guys offensively were really solid. It was nice to see consistency across the board with our approach throughout the whole day.”
As Dupic also mentioned, the Bulldogs scored at least one run in every inning in the rout of Viterbo, a member of the North Star Athletic Association. Six Concordia players hammered out at least two hits: Tanner Tompkins (3-for-4, double, three RBIs), Joey Grabanski (2-for-3, one run, two RBIs), Kyle Berg (2-for-3, run, double, RBI), Alec Blakestad (2-for-4, two runs, double, three RBIs), Jayden Adams (2-for-4, three runs, double, RBI) and Jesse Garcia (2-for-5, run, RBI). The Bulldogs busted the game wide open with four runs apiece in the fourth and sixth innings. This year’s team is taking advantage of its speed, as evidenced by the eight stolen bases against the V-Hawks. Alec Blakestad swiped three bases and Adams stole two bases.
As the game one starting pitcher, Daniel Rivera recorded six outs before being pulled from the game (seven walks). In relief, Benjamin Coldiron was credited with the win after he threw 2.2 scoreless innings that included five strikeouts. Christian Gutierrez got the final seven outs without allowing a run (four K’s).
In a more competitive second game, Ty Nekoliczak (3-for-3, run, RBI) and Jakob Faulk (2-for-3, run, three RBIs) were the standouts at the plate. Concordia made it a comfortable seven-run lead by tacking on three runs in the top of the seventh. That frame featured an RBI double by Jaidan Quinn and a two-run single from Faulk. In addition, Grabanski reached base three times (double and two walks).
Alex Johnson picked up the win on the mound while firing 4.1 shutout innings (five strikeouts and no walks). Dupic then turned to Shane Whittaker (1.1 IP), Jacob Lycan (0.1 IP) and Nathan Buckallew (1.0 IP) to close it out. The bullpen surrendered a grand total of one unearned run on the day. They did so against a William Penn program that went 33-18 in 2021 (5-3 so far this season).
Next on the slate for the Bulldogs is a four-game series at College of Ozarks, set for Friday and Saturday in Point Lookout, Mo. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT on Friday and 12 p.m. on Saturday. In last season’s series, Concordia took three of four from the Bobcats.