After winning four of their last six games, the Concordia University baseball team dropped three of their last four to finish the 2009 season in 11th place in the GPAC.
Concordia began the weekend with a split with the Midland Lutheran College Warriors in the Bulldogs final home contest of the season. Game one quickly took a turn in the Warriors' favor, taking a 9-0 lead after the top of the second inning. At one point in the second game, the Warriors led 15-1 before the Bulldogs put four runs on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth. It was too little to late, as the game was ended because of the ten run mercy rule, 15-5.
John Couch lost his fifth game of the season on the mound for the Bulldogs. Couch threw three complete innings, giving up 11 runs (six earned) on ten hits.
Game two saw a turn in the fortunes of the Bulldogs. Concordia was a base hit shy of ending the game in the same fashion the Warriors had in game one. Leading 12-4 with runners on second and third in the bottom of the fifth, Concordia just needed to score the two base runners to end the game, but Jamie Dillard was retired to.
Midland made the best of its second chance, scoring five runs on three hits to cut Concordia's advantage to three runs. In the top of the seventh, the Warriors brought the tying run to the plate three times after a lead off walk and error by the Bulldogs put two Midland runners on. Steven Ivanoff settled down enough to induce a ground ball, an infield pop up, and a strike out to escape the inning unscathed. Ivanoff earned his second save of the season in the 12-9 Concordia victory in game two, as Jacob Yurich evened his record to 3-3 with the win.
The Bulldogs took Friday to recover before heading to Hastings, Neb. to take on the Hastings College Broncos in the final double action of the season. Hastings took game one 6-2 before narrowly defeating the Bulldogs 2-1 in game two.
In game one four Bulldogs combined to go 8-of-14 but the remaining five hitters in the starting lineup were 1-of-15. Concordia failed to get the offense on track but the Broncos were able to push across five runs (all earned) with seven hits on starting pitcher Caleb Taylor. Hastings starter Alex Kucera scattered the Bulldogs nine hits through seven innings while stranding 11 Concordia runners on base to earn the win.
Steven Ivanoff returned to starting action for game two and threw a gem but was out dueled by four Hastings pitchers. The Bulldog offense was able to register seven hits in game two but only able to push across one run. Ivanoff was the tough luck recipient of the loss in game two, throwing 5 2-3 innings giving up just four hits and two runs (both earned). Concordia had jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a triple by Joe Bercerra and an RBI single by Nate Schmoll.
Hastings was able to come back to tie the game, 1-1, with a triple and sacrifice fly and took the lead in the bottom of the sixth. A one out double by Geoff Hobbs lead to the game winning run when Hobbs scored on a single by Sonny Houghy, and Concordia was shut down 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh.
Concordia ends the 2009 season 14-32 overall and 8-16 in the GPAC and with a host of young talent returning the Bulldogs look to 2010 with optimism.