UPDATE: On April 14, it was announced that the doubleheader at Doane was moved to Monday, April 17 (due to inclement weather forecast for Saturday). Monday's twin bill is slated for a 1 p.m. CT start.
SEWARD, Neb. – A thoroughly dominant four-game sweep of Dordt leads the Concordia University Baseball team into a week featuring three conference doubleheaders. The Bulldogs will make up a twin bill at Dakota Wesleyan on Tuesday before taking on rival Doane on Saturday and hosting Briar Cliff on Sunday. This past weekend, Concordia defeated Dordt by scores of 19-5, 19-2, 18-1 and 13-3 while hammering seven more home runs. Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad enters this week at 25-11 overall (11-3 GPAC) while putting itself in the thick of another GPAC championship race.
This Week
Tuesday, April 11 at Dakota Wesleyan (4-21, 1-13 GPAC), 1 p.m. DH
--Live Webcast | Live Stats: G1 – G2 | Location: Cadwell Park (Mitchell, S.D.)
Sunday, April 16 vs. Briar Cliff (18-14, 6-10 GPAC), 1 p.m. DH
--Live Webcast/Stats | Location: Plum Creek Park (Seward, Neb.)
Monday, April 17 at Doane (26-8, 12-4 GPAC), 1 p.m. DH
--Live Webcast | Live Stats | Location: Doane Ballfield Complex (Crete, Neb.)
By the numbers
· Because of its history that falls short of the other respective NAIA leagues, the GPAC may not get the credit it truly deserves when it comes to the national poll. In the most recent NAIA coaches’ poll released on April 5, the conference was shut out from the top 25, although both Concordia and Doane did receive votes. In the NAIA’s Bo Chip ratings (essentially an RPI) unveiled on April 2, five GPAC squads appeared in the top 50: No. 8 Morningside, No. 12 Doane, No. 14 Mount Marty, No. 41 Concordia and No. 46 Jamestown. According to Massey Ratings, three GPAC squads are in the nation’s top 25: No. 16 Doane, No. 21 Concordia and No. 23 Morningside with Mount Marty not far off at 28th. It appears the GPAC title race is between those four squads as Concordia and Morningside are both 11-3 in the GPAC and Doane and Mount Marty both sit at 12-4.
· The series versus Dordt was utterly one-sided as the Bulldogs outscored the opposition, 69-11, during the four-game set. Concordia hitters collectively went 65-for-137 (.474) with 34 walks, 18 doubles, a triple and 13 home runs while slugging .905. The home runs came from Jaidan Quinn (four), Ben Berg (two), Alec Blakestad (two), Jesse Garcia (two), Joey Grabanski (two) and Jay Adams (one). Four Bulldogs collected exactly nine hits in the series: Berg (9-for-13), Adams (9-for-14), Garcia (9-for-14) and Ty Nekoliczak (9-for-15). Dordt pitchers were roughed up to the tune of a 21.32 ERA for the series. In addition, the Bulldogs committed only three errors while the Defenders (14-18, 2-12 GPAC) defended poorly in making 13 errors.
· On April 7, the first baseman Garcia became the program’s all-time record holder in four separate categories as he rose to the top of the charts in hits (242), doubles (55), RBIs (194) and walks (109). The previous records had been held by Zak Goodrich in hits, Christian Meza in doubles and Keaton Candor in both RBIs and walks. Currently in his fifth season in the program, Garcia is enjoying the best year of his career. He’s hitting .391 with 11 doubles, 14 home runs, 45 RBIs and an .820 slugging percentage. Garcia’s 52 career homers rank behind only Grabanski (55) on the program’s all-time list. Candor (47 home runs) had held that record until being passed this season by Grabanski and Garcia.
· The power of Grabanski is something to behold. He pulverized two homers in the second game of the series with Dordt and moved to the top of the program’s list for most home runs in a single season with 20. That figure ranks No. 2 in the country behind only Cole Turney of Cumberland (Tenn.). In addition to the new home run standard, Grabanski notched the 200th hit of his career this past weekend. He’s the third player on the active roster to reach that total, joining Garcia (242) and Adams (230). In 148 career collegiate games, Grabanski has amassed 55 home runs and 185 RBIs while slugging .755. The previous program record for home runs in a single season was 19 by Quinn in 2022. Dating as far back as the Dakstats database extends (2006-present), Grabanski’s 20 home runs are the most ever by a GPAC player in one season.
· The powder keg of a Concordia offense leads the conference in every major statistical category – and that even includes stolen bases with 66. The Bulldogs reign atop the league in batting average (.356), on-base percentage (.445), slugging percentage (.635), runs scored (362), hits (406), doubles (81), home runs (77), RBIs (320) and walks (160). Individual leaders in major categories include Grabanski in runs (45), home runs (20), RBIs (58) and slugging percentage (.906), Nekoliczak in hits (51) and Zackery Day in stolen bases (25). With his 25th swipe of the season, Day broke the program record for steals in a season. The previous standard of 24 had been set by Peyton Scott and Jerry Dittenber.
· In a lineup full of standouts, catcher Ben Berg has emerged as the team’s hottest hitter within conference play. In the 14 league games, Berg is batting .469 with a .527 on-base percentage and .918 slugging percentage. He’s tagged GPAC pitchers for six home runs and 16 RBIs. Berg carries an 11-game hitting streak into the week. As a team, Concordia has outscored its conference opponents, 154-52, and has outhomered them, 37-11. Grabanski’s eight homers and 23 RBIs are tops on the team in conference games only.
· As for the pitching staff, Caden Johnson has emerged as the team’s most consistent starter. He won his starts last week against both Northwestern and Dordt and is 3-0 with a 1.06 ERA within conference play. Overall this season, Johnson is 6-2 with a 3.51 ERA. The next three Bulldogs with the most starts this season are Frankie Cresta (5-3, 6.10 ERA), Caden Bugarske (3-0, 3.09 ERA) and Blake Benson (4-2, 5.44 ERA). The trick for Concordia is getting more consistent results from start to start. The Bulldogs still hope to get their ace, Alex Johnson, back from injury at some point down the stretch. Through 36 games, Concordia has a team ERA of 5.41.
The opponents
Dakota Wesleyan has struggled to a 1-13 GPAC record while hitting .234 with eight home runs as a team. The lone victory within conference play was a 4-3 decision over Dordt on April 3. Head Coach Charlie Dubanoski is in his second season attempting to build up a program that last enjoyed a winning season in 2014. So far in 2023, the Tigers have scored the fewest runs in the GPAC (79) and have the league’s highest ERA (9.85). As a credit to DWU, it owns the GPAC’s fourth best fielding percentage (.959).
Doane won the GPAC regular season title outright in 2022 and is in position to make another run at a conference championship. Now in his seventh season leading the program, Head Coach Josh Oltmans has impressively built the Tigers into one of the league’s best squads. Doane has been ranked inside or near the top 10 of the Bo Chip rankings all spring behind strong pitching (3.55 team ERA) and defense (.971 fielding percentage) and a strong lineup led by the likes of Joe Osborn and Lukas White. Osborn is the reigning GPAC Player of the Year and is hitting .305 with six home runs. The team’s top two starting pitchers have been Kaden Crawford (5-3, 2.68 ERA) and Aaron Forrest (6-2, 3.35 ERA). The Bulldogs dropped both of last season’s meetings with Doane, falling at home by scores of 2-1 and 9-2.
Briar Cliff has followed an 11-game losing streak with six-straight victories. The Chargers swept a doubleheader from Dordt and then took all four games in their series with Dakota Wesleyan. Briar Cliff can spin some solid arms at its opponents in the form of Brett Sitzmann (1-2, 4.43 ERA), Matthew Hmielewski (3-1, 3.77 ERA) and Kyler Steinborn (4-4, 3.76 ERA). Offensively, the Chargers are hitting .279 while averaging 7.0 runs per game. Cam Riemer hit .347 with 11 home runs last season. Head Coach Corby McGlauflin is in his fourth season leading the program in his hometown of Sioux City. Concordia and Briar Cliff split a four-game series last season in Sioux City. The Bulldogs then clubbed the Chargers, 25-6, in a GPAC tournament meeting.
Next week
The rest of the regular season will be shifted towards weekend doubleheaders/series. Concordia will meet Midland April 22-23 for a four-game series. Day one games will be in Fremont, Neb., before action shifts to Seward on day two.