SEWARD, Neb. – The Bulldogs will have two doubleheaders on the road in the next seven days. The softball team will face Hastings on Wednesday (Apr. 3) and Northwestern on Saturday. Concordia had the Easter weekend off but faced Doane earlier in the week. The two split the tightly contested contests with the Bulldogs taking game one and the Tigers taking game two. Head Coach Brock Culler’s squad is 11-17 overall and get their first conference win for a 1-3 record.
This Week
Wednesday, April 3 at Hastings (12-14, 0-4 GPAC), 4 p.m. DH
--Live Webcast | Live Stats: Game 1 – Game 2 | Location: Smith Softball Complex (Hastings, Neb.)
Saturday, April 6 at No. 11 Northwestern (26-2, 4-0 GPAC), 1 p.m. DH
--Live Webcast | Live Stats | Location: NWC Softball Diamond (Orange City, Iowa)
By the numbers
· The two teams put multiple-run innings together to take each respective win for each team. Down 1-0 in the bottom of the 6th, Taryn Ganstrom took advantage of the opposing pitcher with her first bat of the season that ended with a two-RBI triple. After pushing Kylie Shottenkirk and Laycee Josoff across the plate, Ganstrom ran home on a perfectly executed squeeze bunt by Hanna Bowers. Megan Eurich was massive in the game one win (3-2) throwing four strikeouts and one earned run on 29 batters faced. In game two, Jennifer Katz and Aubrey Bruning tied the game (2-2) by the end of the fifth inning. Errors helped the visiting Tigers push two across the plate in the sixth, being the difference in the 4-2 loss.
· Megan Eurich and Taryn Ganstrom have been the usual starters of late and have kept Concordia in the hunt for every game. Eurich sits second in strikeouts (96) in the conference and third in wins (10). The Gretna, Neb., product leads the team with a 2.68 ERA in 109 innings pitched. Ganstrom has an ERA of 4.46 but a 3.50 in the past four outings. She has a team low six walks in 26 innings pitched.
· Concordia has five players with at least 20 hits which include Julia Van Wey (26), Taylor Glause (23), Aubrey Bruning (21), Jennifer Katz (21) and Zoie Isom (20). Glause leads the team in doubles (seven) and Katz in triples (three).
· The Bulldogs are in the top five in the conference for stolen bases (36). Bruning leads the team in stolen bases (10), Glause has six, Laycee Josoff with five and Delanie Voshell has four. The four in front are Northwestern (63), Midland (52), Dakota Wesleyan (47) and Dordt (44).
· The top four batting averages through 28 games come from veterans starting with Zoe Isom (.323), Van Wey (.306), Bruning (.304) and Glause (.303). Pacing the team for on-base percentage is freshman Josoff (.424), junior Jennifer Katz (.369) and junior Bruning (.368). In slugging percentage, Isom (.532) moves back up the leaderboard with Katz (.459) and Glause (.395) rounding out the top three. Consequently, Isom and Katz have 15 RBIs apiece (team high). As a team, the Bulldogs hit .261 so far this season.
· Glause has a perfect fielding percentage (1.000) and has 97 putouts and five assists in 102 total chances. She has zero errors and has a .444 percentage of runners caught stealing from behind the plate. The senior out of Malcolm, Neb., shares the spot with sophomore Jayden Fernau, who has caught three runners stealing with a .176 percentage.
Hastings
The Broncos are 12-14 overall and are winless (0-4) in the conference, having faced Morningside and No. 13 Midland. Hastings is 3-0 at home and have mounted 124 runs and seven home runs. Its averages are .281/.340/.376 (AVG/OBP/SLG) plus 204 total hits. Lauren Schneider (.347), Lexie Mudloff (.333) and Sam Skinner (.333) pace the Broncos in batting average. Schneider has 26 hits, 30 RBIs, eight multi-base hits and four home runs. Kyleigh Boever has a 4.52 ERA in 82 innings pitched with 54 strikeouts and 26 walks.
Northwestern
The No. 11 Red Raiders and defending GPAC regular season champions come into the week with an impressive 26-2 overall record and a 4-0 conference record. Northwestern will travel to Jamestown for its midweek doubleheader. They have a team batting average of .342 and 248 hits. The Red Raiders have a high on-base percentage (.434) and a slugging percentage of .478. Their leading pitcher, Kameryn Etherington, has a 12-1 record and a 0.83 ERA through 76.1 innings pitched. She also leads the team with a .468 batting average out of the starters as Tatum Schmalbeck (.403) plus Gwen Mikkelsen (.398) follow Etherington.
Next Week
Concordia is scheduled to be back at Plum Creek Ballpark with doubleheaders against Jamestown and Dakota Wesleyan the following week. The Bulldogs will face the Jimmies on Apr. 12 and the Tigers on Apr. 13 for senior day.