Seniors to be recognized as part of pivotal four-game set with Midland

By Jacob Knabel on Apr. 21, 2023 in Baseball

UPDATE: Game times for both doubleheaders have been altered (see below).

SEWARD, Neb. – More meaningful baseball will be played at Plum Creek Park in late April. The Concordia University Baseball team will enter the weekend tied atop the GPAC standings along with Doane and Morningside. In recent action, the Bulldogs piled up a combined 38 runs in a doubleheader sweep of Briar Cliff before dropping two games at rival Doane. Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad sports an overall record of 29-13 (15-5 GPAC). In between games on Sunday, Concordia will recognize a group of five seniors. The upcoming four-game series with Midland will be played in Fremont on Saturday and in Seward on Sunday.

This Week

Saturday, April 22 at Midland (18-20, 10-10 GPAC), 3 p.m. DH
--Live Webcast | Live Stats | Location: Moller Field (Fremont, Neb.)

Sunday, April 23 vs. Midland (18-20, 10-10 GPAC), 2 p.m. DH
--Live Webcast/Stats | Location: Plum Creek Park (Seward, Neb.)

By the numbers

·        It’s become a sprint to the finish now as Concordia, Doane and Morningside share first place (all 15-3 in the GPAC) with eight games remaining in the regular season. In fourth place in the league standings, Mount Marty (13-7) is two games back. The official GPAC ratings released on Monday showed a top three of Concordia, Doane and Morningside. Using the NAIA “Bo Chip Power Index” as a guide, the top of the GPAC may be about as good as it’s ever been. In the Bo Chip ratings unveiled on Monday, four GPAC teams landed inside the top 30: No. 8 Doane, No. 10 Morningside, No. 26 Concordia and No. 28 Mount Marty. Meanwhile, Massey Ratings lists Doane at No. 16, Concordia at No. 21, Morningside at No. 26 and Mount Marty at No. 34.

·        Sunday’s doubleheader versus Briar Cliff was a continuation of the success the Bulldogs have enjoyed at home this spring. In 10 games played at Plum Creek Park in 2023, Concordia is 10-0 and has outscored its opponents by a combined total of 145-39 while outhomering them, 32-12. The Bulldogs added 10 home runs to their season ledger while pummeling the Chargers, 20-4 and 18-12. Any fly ball hit to right got a boost from the strong winds that gusted that day. Alec Blakestad led the power surge with three home runs, Jesse Garcia and Jaidan Quinn produced two home runs apiece and Joey Grabanski, Ty Nekoliczak and Tanner Tompkins left the yard once each. Over the two games, Concordia hitters combined for 34 hits and 14 walks.

·        The only GPAC team that has successfully limited the Bulldog offense to this point has been Doane, which defeated Concordia by scores of 6-4 and 9-2 in Crete. The Tigers got solid starts from Julian Vargas (6 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB) and Kaden Crawford (4.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 5 BB) while pulling even for first place in the GPAC standings. For a change, the Bulldogs were outhomered by an opponent as Doane belted four home runs while keeping Concordia in the ballpark. The Bulldogs lost game one despite Caden Johnson taking a no-hitter into the bottom of the sixth. That’s when things unraveled as the Tigers put five runs on the board. Johnson wound up throwing 5.1 innings and allowed three earned runs on two hits and a walk (two strikeouts). Offensively, Concordia was held to a combined 11 hits and only one went for extra bases.

·        The likely frontrunner for GPAC Player of the Year honors, Grabanski remains in the hunt for the national home run lead. Grabanski’s homer in game two versus Briar Cliff marked his 21st of the season (two off the national lead) and the 56th of his career (school record). With 64 RBIs on the season, the Grand Forks, N.D., native is also on the verge of breaking his own school record for a single season (67 in 2022). In 42 games, Grabanski is slashing .397/.506/.884 (AVG/OBP/SLG). Grabanski leads the GPAC in hits (58), runs scored (51), home runs, RBIs, walks (30) and slugging percentage. In 154 career games, Grabanski has batted .381 with 191 RBIs and a .754 slugging percentage.

·        Nationally, the Bulldogs rank sixth with 87 home runs on the season. Four Concordia sluggers have reached double figures in that category: Grabanski (21), Garcia (16), Quinn (16) and Blakestad (10). Meanwhile, Adams (nine) and Ben Berg (seven) could soon join them. The homer totals for Blakestad, Berg, Garcia and Grabanski are career highs for a single season. It’s easy for certain players on this team to get overlooked, but Blakestad deserves high praise for his continued improvement. The GPAC’s top center fielder, Blakestad is hitting .375 with 10 homers, 39 RBIs, a .450 on-base percentage and .667 slugging percentage. One of the program’s all-time greats, Garcia hit another milestone this past Sunday when he became the first player in school history to reach 200 career RBIs.

·        The sixth inning overshadowed what was an otherwise stellar outing on Monday for Caden Johnson. The junior from Papillion, Neb., has been the team’s most effective pitcher within conference play. In four starts versus GPAC foes, Johnson is 3-1 with a 2.01 ERA in 22.1 innings with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 18-to-7. Others who have done fine work on the mound within conference play are Caden Bugarske (3-0, 1.17 ERA, 15.1 IP), Ernie Snyder (1.35 ERA, 6.2 IP) and Qwin Zabokrtsky (2.08 ERA, 13 IP). Bugarske fired four innings with one run allowed in the game one win over Briar Cliff. Early last week, Zabokrstky threw a three-hit shutout in a seven-inning complete game victory at Dakota Wesleyan. The staff ERA in GPAC play stands at 4.63.

·        It will be senior day on Sunday. The five seniors who will be recognized are Ben Berg, Ben Coldiron, Jesse Garcia, Teyt Johnson and Dan Rivera. Berg, Garcia and Johnson are each in the midst of their fifth seasons within the program. Going back to the start of the 2019 season, the program has posted a combined record of 158-71-1 with four combined GPAC championships, three national tournament appearances and one trip to the NAIA World Series. The brother of former hitting coach Bryce Berg, Ben has played 170 career games with a .304 batting average (165 hits), 32 doubles, 24 home runs and 130 RBIs. Garcia owns school records for games played (223), hits (248), doubles (56), RBIs (201) and walks (112). His career batting average stands at .336 to go along with a .633 slugging percentage. As for Johnson, he’s played in 182 games and has notched 105 runs, 142 hits, 25 doubles, 16 home runs and 101 RBIs while batting .286.

The opponent

Midland enters this weekend at 10-10 in league play having just split a Sunday doubleheader with Hastings. Head Coach Chad Miller is in his ninth season leading the program, which made national tournament appearances under his direction in 2016, 2017 and 2018. The 2023 Warriors are averaging 6.9 runs per game and own a team ERA of 7.07. The team’s top hitter has been Hadyn Crawford, who is batting .371 with seven homers and 33 RBIs. From a pitching standpoint, Owen Kelley (3-1, 4.78 ERA, 7.88 K/9) has gotten the most usage with eight starts and 37.2 innings. Midland owns a win over Morningside to its credit. The Warriors will host Peru State College on Wednesday before shifting focus to this weekend’s series. In last season’s action, Concordia swept the four-game series over Midland by a combined score of 60-15.

Next week

The 2023 regular season will wrap up with a four-game home series versus Morningside the weekend of Aril 28-29. First pitches are set for 4 p.m. CT on April 28 and for 1 p.m. on April 29.