LINCOLN, Neb. – A fourth-inning ground out that plated a run was all that Doane needed behind its ace pitcher Aaron Forrest in the 2023 GPAC tournament championship game played on Tuesday (May 9) at Den Hartog Field on the Lincoln East High School campus. The Concordia University Baseball team left the bases loaded in the ninth and was edged, 1-0, while appearing in the GPAC Championship Game for the fourth straight season. The potent Bulldog offense was limited to five hits, all singles, by its arch nemesis.
Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad will head into the NAIA National Championship Opening Round at 38-16 overall. Concordia wound up one key hit away from adding to the five total GPAC championships won during Dupic’s tenure.
“It was one of the better games I’ve had the opportunity to be part of,” Dupic said. “It was incredibly competitive on both sides. Every pitch was a big pitch, every play was a big play and every at bat was a big at bat. I couldn’t be prouder of our guys. Obviously we were hoping to come through in an at bat or two. I really wish we had been able to do that. On the other side of it, it’s really good for us to have a game like this. When you play really good teams and advance to the national tournament, you have to be able to play clean. We have such faith in our hitters and our guys. I thought we put some really good swings on a few balls today and couldn’t catch a break. All in all, it was such a good ballgame.”
Coming off a 16-3 win over Morningside in the finals of the Concordia Bracket, the Bulldogs never could break the ice on Tuesday night. Tension filled the grandstand at Hartog Field in the top of the ninth. Jay Adams singled to lead it off before a couple of fly outs followed. Forrest proceeded to walk Jesse Garcia and then hit Alec Blakestad with a pitch. Doane decided to turn to the bullpen with the bags full and two out. Tiger reliever Jake Johnson managed to get Ben Berg to ground a 3-2 pitch to second for the final out.
Concordia has seen both sides of championship dogpiles plenty of times in recent years. This time around, three Bulldog pitchers did their part in maintaining hope of a banner evening. Dupic kept the Tiger offense off balance by rolling out Frankie Cresta for three innings (four strikeouts), Blake Benson for 3.2 (four strikeouts) and Daniel Rivera for 1.1 (three strikeouts). From Doane’s perspective, it probably felt as though it should have built more than a one-run lead. The Tigers ended up with just one run in the fourth after putting runners on second and third with no out and then stranded the bases loaded in both the fifth and sixth innings. Impressively, Benson struck out both Lukas White and Nate Mensik in the fifth to put out a fire.
Forrest (10-2) nearly went the distance in a starring performance for the Tigers (42-10), champions of the GPAC regular season and postseason. He allowed five hits and two walks (five strikeouts) in his 8.2 innings of work. A couple of the Bulldogs’ best swings came to start the seventh when Joey Grabanski lined out on a laser to third and Garcia drove a fly ball that was caught by the left fielder up against the wall. Way back in the second inning, Concordia got a pair of singles to put runners on first and second with one out, but the inning was snuffed out on a double play ball. Berg finished 2-for-4 while Adams, Garcia and Teyt Johnson contributed one hit apiece.
While the result was disappointing, the Bulldogs have developed confidence that they can compete on the national stage. The program has won a combined eight national tournament games over the past two seasons. The fifth-year members of the program have now played in four GPAC tournament championship contests.
Said Dupic, “It’s incredible. Ben Berg had mentioned it the other day. When he said that, it dawned on me – that’s incredible. Some players never get a chance to play in a conference tournament. These guys have played in the title game every year and have played in the national tournament every year. The accomplishments they’ve had are truly amazing. I leave this game with an even better feeling about our team as we head to the national tournament. I’m excited for that and I’m looking forward to more baseball with these guys.”
The Bulldogs will learn of their placement for the 2023 NAIA National Championship Opening Round when the NAIA holds its selection show at 4 p.m. CT on Thursday. That show can be viewed live via the NAIA YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/PlayNAIA. Concordia will be headed to one of the 10 opening round locations announced by the NAIA on May 1. That release can be found HERE.