Head Coach: Ryan Dupic (324-178-1, 11th season); seven GPAC titles; six national tournament appearances (one NAIA World Series berth)
2024 Record: 42-15, 21-7 GPAC (T-1st); GPAC tournament champion; NAIA national qualifier.
Key Returners: Jimmy Blumberg (SS); Braxton Greenburg (RHP); Christian Gutierrez (RHP); Brad Hallock (1B/OF); Alex Johnson (RHP); Ty Nekoliczak (SS); Jaidan Quinn (3B); Matt Rhoades (1B/LHP); Tanner Tompkins (C); Maverick Wylder (RHP).
Key Losses: Jayden Adams (OF); Blake Benson (LHP); Alec Blakestad (OF); Joey Grabanski (OF); Caden Johnson (RHP); Jacob Lycan (RHP).
2024 GPAC All-Conference: Joey Grabanski (Co-Player of the Year; First Team); Jaidan Quinn (Co-Player of the Year; First Team); Jayden Adams (First Team); Alec Blakestad (First Team); Matt Rhoades (Freshman of the Year; First Team); Christian Gutierrez (Second Team); Jacob Lycan (Second Team); Ty Nekoliczak (Second Team); Tanner Tompkins (Second Team); Jimmy Blumberg (Honorable Mention); Brad Hallock (Honorable Mention); Caden Johnson (Honorable Mention); Ryan Dupic (GPAC Coach of the Year).
2024 NAIA All-America: Jaidan Quinn (First Team); Joey Grabanski (Second Team).
Outlook
It would be easy to focus on who’s no longer here, but as Head Coach Ryan Dupic has stated, the 2025 Concordia University, Nebraska Baseball program remains stocked with players many other teams would love to have. Year over year consistency is a major reason why the Bulldogs check in at No. 20 in the NAIA preseason coaches’ poll behind preseason All-American third baseman Jaidan Quinn. Concordia enters 2025 as one of six NAIA programs nationally to have won at least 40 games in each of the past four seasons.
The feeling-out process will continue through the month of January as the Bulldogs maximize the indoor facilities the campus has to offer. Dupic can’t guarantee a championship or another 40-win season at this point, but he has been satisfied with the attitude and effort displayed by the team during the offseason.
“They’re pretty coachable, have really good character and they’re good kids,” Dupic said. “There’s a sense of humility and a little bit of hunger there, which I like. We have some good players returning. We’ve obviously lost some good players – there’s no question about that. There are some really good players returning that a lot of teams would love to have. If you can have a combination of talent and competitive character, then you have a chance to be a good group. They’ve been fun so far. It’s hard to tell a lot inside so far, but it’s a group I’m excited about.”
Those ‘good players’ that have moved on that Dupic references include NAIA all-time home run and RBI leader Joey Grabanski and fellow First Team All-GPAC outfielders Jay Adams and Alec Blakestad. All three played a major role in a four-year stretch (2021 through 2024) that included five combined GPAC championships, four national tournament appearances and a trip to the 2021 NAIA World Series. That same timeframe has been characterized by incredible offensive production with an average of more than 100 home runs per season. The ’24 team clubbed 113 long balls and averaged 8.75 runs per game.
How does Concordia maintain that level of production? The home run total is likely to decrease, but the Bulldogs will be no slouch in that department. Quinn (73 career home runs) anchors the lineup and will make up one-fourth of an experienced infield that will trot out Jimmy Blumberg at shortstop, NAIA Gold Glover Ty Nekoliczak at second base and NAIABall National Freshman of the Year Matt Rhoades at first base. Throw in the catcher tandem of Tanner Tompkins and Michael Welch and you have the makings of another potent nucleus.
Furthermore, the environment that has made this program special remains intact. Says Quinn, “(We need to) stick to our core values. I’m not gong to say we’re going to have 40 wins this season, but we’re going to stick to our core values: staying disciplined and being family-oriented and team first. We have a bunch of values for this program that we’ve talked about for the last week in meetings. The key is to live them out.”
Very few college players accomplish what Quinn has achieved since he arrived at Concordia beginning with the 2021-22 academic year. He’s slugged at least 19 home runs in each of his first three seasons and has been selected as a First Team All-GPAC honoree each year. ‘Q’ is a reigning NAIA First Team All-American and co-GPAC Player of the Year and someone who would rather not know how many home runs he needs to catch his former teammate Grabanski.
Dupic holds seniors like Quinn and Nekoliczak in the highest regard, and not just because they excel on the diamond. Said Dupic of Quinn, “From a character and integrity perspective, I really respect the heck out of him – his approach and the way he goes about it. It’s very uncommon to be that skilled of a player and to still have the right approach. I love who he is as a person and a teammate. The best compliment I’ll give, as good as a player as he is, I’ll miss him more as a person when his time is done here.”
The expectation from a defensive standpoint is that Quinn and his infield teammates will provide a lift to the Bulldog pitching staff. The addition last season of slick fielding transfer Blumberg shifted Nekoliczak to second, where he became the nation’s best with the glove. The steady and reliable Nekoliczak needs seven more hits to join Quinn in the program’s 200-hit club. A versatile player who can also pitch, Rhoades belted 16 homers as a freshman and is the program’s next big power hitter in a long line of them.
Meanwhile, the outfield will have a whole new look. Often used as a defensive replacement in 2024, sophomore Alex Draper (43 games, four starts in ’24) stands ready to take on more playing time. Others who could factor into the mix include transfers Jaeden Jordahl and Layton Rivas and freshman Kade Spomer. The competition could carry on into February when nonconference play gets underway.
In his first season with the Bulldogs, Brad Hallock hit 10 home runs and posted a .414 on-base percentage while frequently serving as the designated hitter. It’s a role he could fill once again and provide punch in the middle of the lineup. Another standout amongst the senior class, Tompkins is a career .332 hitter with 128 hits. There's also Zackery Day, who has swiped 52 stolen bases over his first two collegiate seasons. In sum, Concordia still projects to score runs in bunches, it will simply look different.
“Hopefully we can run a little bit more,” Dupic said. “We’re still going to have a foundation built on winning at bats. We’re going to hit less home runs, but we’re not going to hit 15 of them. We’re going to hit plenty. It’s a good group. Home runs are an extension of slugging percentage. We just want to hit extra-base hits. Maybe you don’t hit 115 home runs, but if you hit 40 or 50 more doubles, that can be a big extension of it. It’s really about being more versatile and more situational. We have plenty of guys who can go up there and win their at bat and guys who can provide a little more flexibility.”
As for the pitching staff, Dupic conveyed back in the fall that the group still had plenty of room for improvement. Since then, positive developments have emerged as a collection of dependable arms has begun to take shape. Caden Bugarske has been shelved by injury, but workhorse Christian Gutierrez (3.61 ERA, 82.1 IP in 2024) returns as a reliable rotation hurler. Gutierrez and fellow right-hander Braxton Greenburg are the two primary returning starters. After two seasons (2023 and 2024) lost to injury, the supremely talented Alex Johnson is hopeful of making an impact this spring. A newcomer or two may also step into the starting rotation, and Rhoades proved he is a capable starter.
The bullpen will be hard pressed to replace the work of Jacob Lycan, who recorded a 2.08 ERA in 19 appearances last season. Other relievers with experience include last season’s closer, Maverick Wylder (five saves), as well as Logan Fragomeni, Cameron Pickens, Ernie Snyder and Qwin Zabokrtsky. Collectively, the staff turned in a solid 4.63 ERA in 2024.
“As long as we stay healthy, I like the way our starting pitching staff is starting to come together,” Dupic said. “Our relievers will be a big part of this. One of the guys who was maybe the most overlooked from a year ago is Jacob Lycan. Our ability to develop 4 through 10 in our pitching staff is going to be a key for our season. I like the way some of our starting pitchers are progressing and we have some experience there. The bullpen is going to be a key piece as we progress through the year.”
Those associated with the program will insist that the success of the program goes beyond the numbers. Dupic believes that the program’s culture shines through as a competitive advantage.
As Quinn explains, “It’s just the players we have. I give props to Ty. Ty is one of those people who can talk to absolutely anybody. You can be some stranger on the street, and he can make a connection with you. It’s the people we have. We are a very close-knit team, and we love each other. You can go to anybody and talk about anything. If you’re not putting your full effort in, we’ll tell you that you’re not putting your full effort in. We have that ability to push each other and also help each other. I think that’s a really big aspect of our program.”
The 2025 season is slated to officially get started on Feb. 8 with a pair of games at Oklahoma City University. The Bulldogs will wait until late March before making a home appearance at Plum Creek Park. The complete schedule can be found HERE.