ORANGE CITY, Iowa – The ball keeps flying out of the yard for the 22nd-ranked Concordia University Baseball team, which homered six times as part of a doubleheader sweep at Northwestern on Thursday (April 15). The Bulldogs sustained comeback pushes from the Red Raiders in both ends of the twin bill while winning by scores of 5-4 and 9-7. The always reliable Nick Little won his ninth-straight start to cap off the evening in Orange City, Iowa.
Things are lurching closer towards the stretch run of the season for Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s program, which finds itself in another chase for a GPAC championship.
“Every year I feel like Northwestern is one of the better coached teams that we come across,” Dupic said. “They really put pressure on you and do a lot of different things to challenge you. I was very pleased with our ability to hang with it and find a way to get a couple wins. Our guys were terrific offensively – I just can’t say enough. We really hit ball well and had some quality at bats.
“I tip my cap to our bullpen in game 1. Shane Whittaker did a nice job and Nathan Buckallew did a great job slowing things down. Nick Little was great. His number aren’t necessarily going to show it, but we made a couple mistakes defensively and some other bad breaks. He just keeps fighting through it.”
In both games, Northwestern rallied from three-run deficits or greater to either tie or take the lead. In the sixth inning of game 1, Joey Grabanski broke a 4-4 stalemate with a solo homer to left. Concordia also grabbed the lead for good in game 2 via the long ball. Jakob Faulk delivered a pinch-hit two-run homer to turn a 4-3 deficit into a 5-4 advantage in the fifth. In that same frame, Keaton Candor pulverized a two-run blast and Ben Berg added a majestic homer in the sixth. The Bulldogs built a 9-4 lead in the second contest.
As of late, Berg has been driving the ball as well as anyone on a team full of capable sluggers. Said Dupic, “He’s been really good. He’s hit some balls really hard at certain points this year and maybe picked the wrong time with the way the wind was blowing. It always felt like something was coming for him and it’s coming together right now.”
Trenton Wood pitched 3.2 innings to begin game 1 and allowed three runs while striking out five. In relief, Whittaker (2 IP) earned the win (4-0) and Buckallew threw 1.1 scoreless innings in recording a save. In game 2, Little (5-0) went the distance and racked up 13 strikeouts. His numbers were hurt by a bout of sloppy defense and a three-run homer with two outs in the seventh.
In addition to the homers already mentioned, Jayden Adams and Beau Dorman also stroke for a bomb apiece. Near the bottom of the order, Jose Cevallos went 4-for-6 with two runs and an RBI on the day. Three of his teammates totaled three hits on Thursday: Berg, Candor and Dorman. The team’s single-season program home run record has been pushed to 58.
Meanwhile, the Red Raiders (14-20, 7-11 GPAC) got a homer apiece from Jaden Snyder and Kip Cullinan. Northwestern mixed and matched with seven different pitchers throughout the course of the evening. The losses both went to Red Raider relievers.
The same two teams will meet in the same location for a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m. CT on Friday. The Bulldogs hope to make it a perfect 7-for-7 in terms of winning four-game series this season.