SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The Concordia University baseball program has never before enjoyed this type of run to begin a conference season. Even on a day when their bats were limited to a combined eight hits, the Bulldogs managed another doubleheader sweep of a GPAC foe. The Bulldogs rode their stunningly dominant pitching staff to road wins over Briar Cliff by scores of 1-0 and 3-0 in Sioux City, Iowa, on Tuesday afternoon (April 2).
Fifth-year head coach Ryan Dupic’s squad has rolled to a 10-0 conference record (16-10 overall) as Concordia continues to add to the program’s longest ever unbeaten streak to open up GPAC action. All other GPAC squads now have at least four conference losses.
“It’s hard (to explain), maybe just baseball,” Dupic said of the team’s 10-game win streak. “When you go on a good streak in baseball you pitch well on the right day and you hit well on the right day. Baseball is just a funny game. It’s been a really good team effort. We’re just going to stay focused and keep being ourselves. It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. We’ll stay with it and take it a day at a time.”
The Bulldogs entered the day leading the GPAC in runs per game, but it has been the pitching staff that has stolen the show lately. Junior Jake Fosgett has made himself cozy in the starting rotation. In his third masterpiece in a row, Fosgett allowed only two hits and three walks and struck out 11 hitters in seven-inning shutout. The native of Carlsbad, Calif., danced around the most trouble after back-to-back walks to begin the third inning. Two lineouts were recorded with runners on second and third.
In the second game, starter Tanner Wauhob continually succeeded when he found himself in jams. He worked six shutout innings that saw him allow three hits and four walks to go along with six strikeouts. Wauhob walked the first hitter in the seventh and then was relieved by Dylan DuRee, who got the final three outs to earn the save.
Incredibly, the pitching staff has now fired four shutouts in a row, spanning 28 scoreless innings. Concordia has gone 42 consecutive innings without surrendering an earned run. Fosgett has been as good as any Bulldog pitcher. He has given up a grand total of one run over his last three starts.
“I’m just really proud of them,” Dupic said. “Briar Cliff is the type of team that puts scrappy at bats together. Jake Fosgett was the best he’s ever been. He was just incredible today. He had all of his pitches working. He was really focused and in his own world in the way he executed. Then Tanner Wauhob was himself. He gets into some jams at times, but he finds a way out of them and makes the big pitch at the big time.”
All Concordia runs came in the third inning on Tuesday. In the third frame in game one, Ben Berg got things going with a double. Pinch runner Peyton Scott scored two batters later on a double by Wade Council. Then in game two, Christian Meza delivered a two-run double and Evan Bohman chipped in with an RBI single. Council was the lone Bulldog with a hit in both ends of the twin bill.
Briar Cliff (18-13, 8-4 GPAC) has been on a nice run of its own having won eight of 10 to begin its GPAC schedule. The Chargers got a fine pitching performance from Jacob Wesselmann, who allowed just a run on two hits over six innings in game one of the makeup doubleheader. The Chargers were the visitor on the scoreboard in what were originally scheduled to be home games for Concordia.
The Bulldogs are slated to step outside of league action on Wednesday and welcome Kansas Wesleyan University (15-15) for a 5 p.m. CT doubleheader at Plum Creek Park in Seward.