SIOUX CENTER, Iowa – Early in the first of the four-game weekend series, Dordt gave the Concordia University Baseball team a taste of its own medicine by slugging a pair of first-inning home runs. It was all Bulldogs the remainder of the day in Sioux Center, Iowa, where the visitors rattled off the final 19 runs while homering eight times. No. 17 Concordia won by scores of 5-4 and 14-0 on a Good Friday (March 29) spent at Open Space Park. Jaidan Quinn homered three times and Joey Grabanski went deep twice.
Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad had been idle since splitting a four-game home series last week with Northwestern. The Bulldogs stand at 21-8 overall (5-3 GPAC) halfway through the series with the Defenders.
“That second game we played well in all facets,” Dupic said. “The first one was just as important with the way our guys came back and responded. Dordt did a nice job. They had a pitcher that kept us off balance a little bit. They made pitching changes to try to stay one step ahead. We got a couple big swings – Jaidan Quinn was the key guy with two home runs. You really have to tip your cap to Jacob Lycan for stopping them right in the middle of the ballgame. It put us in position to climb back into it. We took some momentum from that.”
While the home runs make for great highlights, the Concordia pitching staff earned a gold star on Friday for its work over 14 innings. After Phoenix West (solo homer) and Drew Oreskes (three-run homer) left the yard in the bottom of the first in game one, the Bulldogs were utterly dominant. Dordt managed a grand total of three hits over its final 13 innings at the plate. Caden Johnson settled in and worked 3.2 innings in game one before Jacob Lycan (2.1 IP) and Maverick Wylder (1.0 IP) stifled the Defender bats.
Concordia chased Dordt game one starter Chaz Gothard after Jose Cevallos (RBI double) and Ty Nekoliczak (RBI single) produced run-scoring hits in the fourth. The Bulldogs kept chipping away as Quinn and Alec Blakestad both homered in the fifth before Quinn pulverized the go-ahead four-bagger in the top of the seventh. Quinn (3-for-3) and Blakestad (2-for-4) both registered multiple hits in game one.
There was no drama in game two as Concordia paraded around the bases for 12 runs on eight hits in the top of the first. Jay Adams set the tone with a solo blast to lead off the game and Quinn (three-run homer) and Matt Rhoades (two-run slam) supplied the exclamation marks on the frame. In addition, Brad Hallock added a two-run single as part of the onslaught. Five Bulldogs collected two or more hits in game two: Grabanski (3-for-3), Adams (2-for-4), Hallock (2-for-4), Tanner Tompkins (2-for-4) and Quinn (2-for-4).
With two home runs on the day, Grabanski pushed his career total to 71 – six off the NAIA’s all-time record. Quinn isn’t far behind with 63 career blasts (and a whole year to play in 2025). Meanwhile, Adams has homered 41 times and Blakestad has left the park 26 times in their careers.
In Friday’s second game, right-handed hurlers Braxton Greenburg and Qwin Zabokrstky combined on a two-hit shutout. Greenburg fired the first three innings and allowed two hits (no walks) while punching out four Defenders. Zabokrtsky (4-0) picked up the win after tossing four no-hit frames (one walk) in covering the rest of the game. He fanned three hitters. Concordia pitchers wound up with 17 strikeouts on the day. Defensively, the Bulldogs did not commit a single error in 53 chances.
Said Dupic, “It’s one of the key pieces for our team. It’s great to see our guys pitch well and defend well. They worked with pace and worked fast. That was a key for sure.”
The losing streak has reached 15 for Dordt (6-23, 0-8 GPAC). In league play, the Defenders have been swept in a four-game series by Jamestown and dropped both ends of a doubleheader to Briar Cliff.
The same two teams will meet again on Saturday to complete the four-game series. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m. CT from Open Space Park. Concordia will attempt to extend a 16-game series winning streak versus the Defenders.