Concordia salvages split with Dakota Wesleyan

Concordia salvages split with Dakota Wesleyan

After dropping the opening game of Sunday's doubleheader the Concordia University, Nebraska, baseball team rallied to claim a split against Dakota Wesleyan on April 1.  The Tigers took the first game 6-0, but Concordia took the second game 9-4 with five runs in the bottom of the sixth. 

Following Sunday's action Concordia has a 17-17 record on the season and is 2-2 in GPAC play. Dakota Wesleyan moved to 13-20 overall and 2-2 in GPAC action.  

Game One:  Dakota Wesleyan 6, Concordia 0 

The Bulldogs were stymied in game one by a stellar pitching performance by Dakota Wesleyan's Nick Pecha.  The Tigers' Pecha scattered seven hits and a walk in a complete game shutout to move to 2-2 on the season.  

Concordia starter, senior Steven Ivanoff (Tucson, Ariz.), matched Pecha pitch-for-pitch in the early going but that changed in the top of the third.  After tossing two perfect innings, Ivanoff left a fastball up on the second pitch of the third inning as Dakota Wesleyan's Toby Kaplan.  The result was a solo blast just inside the foul pole down the left field line.  

Kaplan repeated the performance in the fifth, this time hammering an 0-2 pitch to virtually the same spot to boost the Tigers' lead to 3-0.  

That was more offense than Pecha needed as the Bulldogs best threat came in the third.  With two outs in the inning, Concordia loaded the bases on back-to-back singles by seniors Zak Goodrich (Lutz, Fla.) and Martin Rodriguez (Tucson, Ariz.), then freshman Andrew Yerrell (Santa Fe, Texas) was hit by a pitch.  Unfortunately junior Ray Finley (Tucson, Ariz.) was retired on a long fly out to left to end the threat. 

Ivanoff suffered the loss (4-3) as he surrendered five runs on six hits in 5.1 innings. 

Game Two:  Concordia 9, Dakota Wesleyan 4

Tied 4-4 entering the bottom of the sixth, Concordia plated five runs on four hits to salvage a split to Sunday's doubleheader.

With one out in the sixth, Goodrich ignited the Bulldogs' rally with a double down the right field line.  Rodriguez was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second.  Both Concordia base runners advanced 90 feel on a wild pitch, then Yerrell drove a single through the left side to give the Bulldogs a 5-4 edge.  A walk to Finley loaded the bases, then senior Brandon Pflug (Ft. Morgan, Colo.) dumped a single into right field to make it 6-4. One out later, junior Kyle Ivanoff (Tucson, Ariz.) laced a single into right to chase home two more runs.  The ball was misplayed in right, allowing Pflug to come in to score as well, giving Concordia a 9-4 lead.   

The Bulldogs first four runs came via an RBI double by Yerrell in the first, a sac fly from junior Miles Barrow (Yamhill, Ore.), an RBI single by Goodrich in the second and an RBI single in the fourth from Yerrell. 

Yerrell finished the day, 3-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored. 

Junior reliever Nick Thill (Littleton, Colo.) tossed a scoreless sixth to earn the win (3-1), while senior Josh Anderson (Westminster, Colo.) worked a perfect seventh. 

Dakota Wesleyan's Zac Custer (0-2) was tagged with the loss, allowing four runs on two hits in one-third of an inning. 

The Bulldogs are back in action on Tuesday, April 3 as Concordia hosts in a doubleheader at Plum Creek Park beginning at 4 p.m.