Concordia drops rubber match in Saturday matinee
The Concordia baseball squad completed its eight-game Florida swing with a 5-3 loss to Southeastern University (Fla.) in Lakeland, Fla., on Saturday afternoon. The host Fire took two of three in the weekend series, putting the Bulldogs at 6-9 overall and 4-4 in games in The Sunshine State.
Concordia never led on Saturday as Southeastern got on top with a first inning run and then pulled out in front, 4-1, after the Bulldogs had tied the score in the top of the third with an unearned run. Concordia hitters were kept off balance most of the day by Fire senior right-hander Johnnie Kirkland, who fired eight innings and struck out 12 while giving up only six hits and one earned run.
The Bulldogs tried to chip away at the deficit with a run each in the fourth and sixth innings. Concordia closed the gap to 4-2 when centerfielder Camaren Gause reached on an error and ended up coming around to score on a passed ball.
The Fire tacked on their final run of the game with an Austin Davis RBI single. Down 5-2, Concordia answered with Gause’s RBI double that scored shortstop Kyle Ivanoff in the sixth. However, the Bulldogs failed to push across a single run over the final three frames with Kirkland cruising until handing off to closer Phil Kish in the ninth.
Concordia threatened again in the seventh inning when Cameron Dressen and Andrew Yerrell delivered back-to-back singles with two outs. Kirkland then coaxed a groundout to third base from catcher Ray Finley. The Bulldogs were set down in order in the eighth and ninth innings.
Head coach Jeremy Geidel gave the ball to Firestone, Colo., native Kyle Godfrey for his third start of the season on the mound. The sophomore right-hander kept Concordia close and picked up an eight-inning complete game. He gave up five runs (all earned) on 10 hits and three walks while throwing 111 pitches.
Third baseman Stephen DeMatties went 2-for-2 with a pair of RBIs for Southeastern (15-18), a member of The Sun Conference.
The Bulldogs will be back in action a week from today when they begin a four-game weekend series with Dakota State University (S.D.) at Plum Creek Park in Seward. The Trojans (3-12) are part of the NAIA’s Association of Independent Institutions.
