Bulldogs split doubleheader with Valley City State
The Concordia University, Nebraska, baseball team opened its 2012 home season by splitting a doubleheader with Valley City State University on Saturday, March 24.
Valley City nabbed the opening game 5-1, then the Bulldogs salvaged the nightcap with an 8-7 win in eight innings.
Game One: Valley City State 5, Concordia 1
The first game of the season at Plum Creek Park got off to a rocky start as Valley City scored one run in the first and three in the third to build a 4-0 lead.
The Bulldogs got on the board in the bottom of the third as senior Martin Rodriguez (Tucson, Ariz.) reached on an error the freshman Andrew Yerrell (Santa Fe, Texas) blasted an RBI double into right field.
Unfortunately Concordia managed just two hits the rest of the way, falling 5-1. Bulldog starter, junior Jordan Stirtz (Gretna, Neb.), suffered the loss (1-5). Stirtz allowed four runs on eight hits and one walk in 2.1 innings.
The Vikings' Ronnie Blagg picked up the win (3-1) by limiting Concordia to one run on five hits and a walk in the complete game win.
Game Two: Concordia 8, Valley City State 7 (8 innings)
After losing a 7-1 lead, the Bulldogs rallied to salvage the second game with two clutch hits in the extra frame. Senior Tate Bedwell (Colorado Springs, Colo.) blasted a leadoff double off the left field fence to start the eighth. After moving to third on a sacrifice by senior Anthony Flores (Craig, Colo.), junior Kyle Ivanoff (Tucson, Ariz.) lined the game-winning single up the middle.
Concordia came out with a new determination and energy as game two began. The Bulldogs notched single runs in the first and second as senior Zak Goodrich (Lutz, Fla.) led off the game with a single to right-center. Two outs later senior Brandon Pflug (Ft. Morgan, Colo.) ripped an RBI single up the middle. In the second it was junior Ray Finley (Tucson, Ariz.) getting to second an a two-base error, then Ivanoff delivered a two-out single down the right field line.
The Vikings cut Concordia's lead in half with a run in the top of the third, but the Bulldogs responded with five runs on three hits and an error in the bottom of the fifth. The big blow came with two outs. Finley lifted a two-run single into left field that skipped past Valley City State's Cliff Vazquez. The error by Vazquez sent Finley to third and accounted for another Concordia run. Bedwell followed with an RBI single to left to push the Concordia lead to 7-1.
Unfortunately the Vikings got three runs in both the sixth and the seventh innings to even the game up at 7-7 and send it into extra innings. Concordia junior reliever Nick Thill (Littleton, Colo.) held Valley City at bay in the eighth, setting the stage for the dramatic eighth.
Thill earned the win (2-0) with a perfect eighth inning. Valley City State's Alex Beach was tagged with the loss (0-1), allowing one run on three hits in 1.2 innings.
Concordia and Valley City State face off for another doubleheader on Sunday, March 25 beginning at 12 pm.
24 March 2012
