FREMONT, Neb. – In his largest outing to date, Alex Johnson finished with eight strikeouts and held Midland to only one run in the 6-1 triumph over the Warriors in the conference opener. With the windy conditions picking up every hour, the second game became a pitchers’ duel as home team sealed a win (2-1) over the No. 21 Bulldogs on Friday (March 14).
After the split, Concordia University, Nebraska Baseball moves to 13-7 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
“The wind was blowing in today about 20 to 30 MPH so it was a hard day to score for both teams,” Head Coach Ryan Dupic said. “We were able to break through with a big inning in the first game, but we just couldn’t get that going in the second game. We had some nice swings early but they did a nice job of keeping us off balance. All in all, we just came a little bit short, but we will get back at it and be ready for Monday.”
No team would put a tally on the scoreboard until the fifth inning in game one of the doubleheader. With the bases loaded, Matthew Rhoades hit a blooper to the third baseman that allowed every base runner to reach their next bag, breaking the scoreless tie. In the following frame, the Bulldogs exploded for five runs via four hits from Tanner Thompkins, Ty Nekoliczak (RBI), Jaiden Quinn (two RBIs), and Rhoades (RBI).
That would be enough with Johnson on the bump, as the Olathe, Kan., native allowed four hits and one walk in 6.1 innings pitched. Following the graduate student’s return, he has thrown 30 punch outs, while giving up five earned runs in 20.2 frames.
In the second contest, Rhoades cracked an RBI single in the first to score Quinn, but the powerful Bulldog offense fell silent following the initial inning. The Warriors’ Haydn Crawford would do the only damage they needed, hitting a RBI single in the fourth and a homer in the seventh. Pitcher Christian Gutierrez allowed four hits, two earned runs, zero walks and six strikeouts in eight frames thrown.
Rhoades would lead with three total hits (3-for-8) and three runs batted in.
Said Coach Dupic, “He’s a great hitter. He had a hit down the line to bust the first game open. Obviously, a big part of the lineup and someone that we need to swing well for us.”
Midland (4-16, 1-3 GPAC) collects its first win of the conference season off the back of Zachary Vincent pitching seven innings as he gave up three hits, one earned run, three walks and seven punch outs. The Warriors will face Bellevue in their upcoming midweek game.
Concordia (13-7, 1-1 GPAC) will take the field against Northwestern (13-5, 2-0 GPAC) in a doubleheader that was moved to Monday (March 17). The Bulldogs and Red Raiders split last season with two games apiece in the conference opening weekend in Seward.