Bulldogs split with Trinity Christian to begin Florida trip
By Taylor Mueller, Sports Information Assistant
The Concordia baseball team finished the first day of its spring break trip to Florida with a 5-4 victory and a 6-1 loss in a doubleheader against Trinity Christian College (Ill.).
In an intense first game, the Bulldogs found themselves down 2-0 at the end of two innings. Two Bulldogs runs in the third inning even things back up until the sixth inning, when Concordia tacked on another two runs, putting them in front 4-2. Trinity answered the very next inning with two runs of their own to knot things back up at four apiece.
Finally, with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and a man on third, junior outfielder Zach Gulley hit a grounder right at the third basemen, who muffed the ball, allowing the Bulldogs to score the game-winning run.
Senior Pitcher Jeremiah Luber pitched six solid innings, giving up just one earned run and surrendering five hits and two walks. After three pitching changes through the next two innings, freshman A.J. Peterson took the mound to shut out the Trolls and claim the win for the Bulldogs.
"Luber did a great job again once he settled in,” head coach Jeremy Geidel said. “We got him a lead and he was able to maintain it. He pitched very well into the sixth inning."
Senior shortstop Kyle Ivanoff went 2-4 with a run scored a two RBI’s to lead the Bulldogs.
Trinity Christian took control of game two from the beginning, jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first and then piling on another five runs in the second inning. Concordia didn’t manage to get on the board until the fourth inning when Ivanoff brought in sophomore Andrew Yerrell.
“We really didn't hit the ball like we need to, particularly in the second game, Geidel said. “We need to take advantage of the nice weather we have here and get better."
Senior Joe Bradenburg took the loss, giving up just one earned run and one hit in two and 2/3 innings and allowing two walks. Sophomore Nick Thill replaced Bradenburg to finish the game with 4 1/3 shutout innings, and giving up five hits.
"A bright spot was Thill coming in in the third and throwing four scoreless innings for us,” Geidel said. “We were down and we needed someone to fill those innings. That was nice for him to bounce back like that."
Geidel went on to explain the Bulldogs need to regain focus and be prepared to play in their next competition against Saint Xavier University (Ill.) on Sunday.
"You could definitely tell we were a team that had been traveling many hours on a bus,” Geidel said. “We made mental and physical errors. We didn't have the same focus we had at Oklahoma Wesleyan last weekend. We need to get our rest and come out better tomorrow.”
