Bulldog Athletic Association Member (BAAM) Athletes of the Week
Male: Matthew Boyer, Track & Field
Boyer, who hails from Jefferson City, Mo., won the javelin competition at the Central Nebraska Challenge with a toss of 175' 9" in his first career collegiate meet. Boyer beat out a field of 14 competitors.
Female: Lauren Dawson, Track & Field
Dawson, a native of Cedar Falls, Iowa, broke the school record in the women's outdoor 5,000 meter race walk while finishing in a first-place time of 29:45.12. The previous record of 32:11.29 was set by Rachel Kettner in 2010.
Previous BAAM Athletes of the Week
March 28 – Santiago Abadia (tennis) / Megan Eurich (softball)
March 21 – Wyatt Hambly (shooting sports) / Claire Kee (shooting sports)
March 14 – Caitlyn McGarvie (softball) / Josie Puelz (track & field) / Zach Zohner (track & field)
Feb. 28 – Katie Birtell (Dance) / Noah Schutte (Basketball)
Feb. 21 – Issiah Burks (wrestling) / Adrianna Rodencal (track & field)
Feb. 14 – Noah Schutte (basketball) / Taysha Rushton (basketball)
Feb. 7 – Adrianna Rodencal (track & field) / Calvin Rohde (track & field)
Jan. 31 – Noah Schutte (basketball) / Kristin Vieselmeyer (basketball)
Jan. 24 – Rylee Haecker (track & field) / Calvin Rohde (track & field)
Jan. 17 – Kylahn Freiberg (track & field) / Garrett Seagren (basketball)
Jan. 10 – Sadie Powell (basketball) / Noah Schutte (basketball)
Dec. 13 – Chase Berry (track & field) / Adrianna Rodencal (track & field) / Taysha Rushton (basketball)
Dec. 6 – Gabi Nordaker (volleyball) / Gage Smith (basketball)
Nov. 29 – Rylee Ladd (powerlifting) / Noah Schutte (basketball)
Nov. 15 – Rebecca Gebhardt (volleyball) / Federico Simonetti (Soccer)
Nov. 8 – Kylahn Freiberg (cross country) / Kaden Peters (football)
Nov. 1 – Breyer Meeks (shooting sports) / Carlos Orquiz (soccer) / Morgan Nibbe (volleyball)
Oct. 25 – Bree Burtwistle (volleyball) / Isaiah Shaddick (soccer)
Oct. 18 – Korrell Koehlmoos (football) / Carly Rodaway (volleyball)
Oct. 11 – Rylee Haecker (cross country) / DJ McGarvie (football)
Oct. 4 – Rebecca Gebhardt (volleyball) / Korrell Koehlmoos (football)
Sept. 27 – Bree Burtwistle (volleyball) / Ryan Wokutch (soccer)
Sept. 20 – Tanner Muff (shooting sports) / Gabi Nordaker (volleyball) / Katie Welker (shooting sports)
Sept. 13 – Kierstynn Garner (soccer) / Jack Nelson (shooting sports)
Sept. 6 – Camryn Opfer (volleyball) / Camden Sesna (cross country)
Aug. 30 – Federico Simonetti (soccer) / Carly Rodaway (volleyball)
Aug. 23 – Bree Burtwistle (volleyball)
2022-23 BAAM Athletes of the Month
February – Adrianna Rodencal (track & field) / Noah Schutte (basketball)
January – Rylee Haecker (track & field) / Noah Schutte (basketball)
December – Adrianna Rodencal (track & field) / Gage Smith (basketball)
November – Rebecca Gebhardt (volleyball); Noah Schutte (basketball)
October – Bree Burtwistle (volleyball); Korrell Koehlmoos (football); Carly Rodaway (volleyball)
September – Gabi Nordaker (volleyball); Camryn Opfer (volleyball); Camden Sesna (cross country)
News and notes:
BAAM luncheons are held every Tuesday at 12 p.m. CT inside the Dog House Grill, located in the Janzow Campus Center. The luncheons feature reports from head coaches who are in season at the time. For information on how to join BAAM, click HERE. It is not a requirement to be a BAAM member in order to attend the weekly luncheons.
Shooting Sports wraps up 2022-23 season: The 2022-23 season officially came to an end this past weekend as Concordia Shooting Sports hosted the Concordia Bulldog International Tournament at Heartland Public Shooting Park in Grand Island, Neb. A full recap will soon be available online. For more details on the program, check out the homepage for Concordia Shooting Sports HERE.
Winter seasons-in-review: In recapping the winter sports seasons that have concluded, we took a detailed look at the Concordia men’s basketball, women’s basketball and wrestling teams. Each of their 2022-23 journeys culminated with appearances at national championship events. Click the links below for season-in-review stories. The first link breaks down each of the winter sports and recounts the top moments and performers from the season.
-All-sport winter recap
-Men’s Basketball
-Women’s Basketball
-Wrestling
Bulldog Coaches Show airs every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. CT: The Bulldog Coaches Show is underway in its eighth year of existence. The show airs live for a half hour every Thursday beginning at 5:30 p.m. CT on KTMX-FM 104.9 Max Country. The weekly feature can also be heard live via 104.9 Max Country’s website or by downloading the Max Country app. Throughout the 2022-23 season, Bulldog football, men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball contests will be aired live on Max Country. Parker Cyza serves as the host of the coaches’ show as well as the play-by-play voice for football and basketball. Frank Greene is in his eighth season calling Concordia volleyball.
Concordia Sports Network: Live webcasts for most home varsity contests can be accessed by visiting https://www.cune.edu/athletics/watch-bulldogs at game time. Beginning in 2019-20, Concordia Athletics partnered with PrestoSports for live video and statistical streaming. Live webcast links for away contests are publicized in sport specific releases that preview action for that particular week. Scrimmages, exhibitions and junior varsity events are not broadcasted.
Baseball
· Since last week’s report, the Bulldogs have gone 4-2 with a doubleheader sweep of Hastings at home and a four-game split with Northwestern on the road. Concordia rocked the Broncos by scores of 13-1 and 11-5. The losses to the Red Raiders were by scores of 6-5 and 5-2 and the wins in Orange City, Iowa, were claimed by 14-1 and 10-1 scores. Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad will take an overall record of 21-11 (7-3 GPAC) into a four-game home series this weekend. For more on the Concordia Baseball program, click HERE.
· It’s still early, but no one is pulling away in the GPAC standings. There are five teams that are either 7-3 or 8-4 in league play, as of the end of the day on Monday: Concordia (7-3), Morningside (7-3), Doane (8-4), Midland (8-4) and Mount Marty (8-4). In the latest national ratings metrics, the Bulldogs appeared at No. 28 in the Bo Chip and at No. 25 in Massey Ratings. Based on the Bo Chip (essentially an RPI for NAIA baseball), the GPAC had more top 30 teams than any other conference in the NAIA. In the new league ratings released on Monday, Concordia moved back to No. 1 in the GPAC.
· It was a clear advantage to the Bulldogs for the games last Tuesday (March 28) to be moved from Duncan Field to Plum Creek Park, more favorable for home run hitters. Concordia wound up with six home runs against Bronco pitching and tallied a combined 18 runs in the third innings of the two games. Hastings hurlers watched homers soar from the likes of (in order) Jaidan Quinn, Jesse Garcia, Tanner Tompkins, Ben Berg, Ty Nekoliczak and then Berg again. For Nekoliczak, the homer marked the first of his life (at any level). Joey Grabanski also contributed three doubles on the day. The top pitching performances came from Caden Johnson (five innings, one run) and Christian Gutierez (six innings, two runs).
· Grabanski had observers in awe of his prodigious power on March 30 at Northwestern. In that twin bill, the Grand Forks, N.D., native delivered four home runs, including three in the 14-1 game two rout. Grabanski accounted for half the team’s homers on the day as Jay Adams hit two and Berg and Garcia added one apiece. In the four-game series as a whole, Tanner Tompkins went 7-for-10 and Alec Blakestad went 6-for-12 (with one homer). Garcia pummeled a homer in both ends of the twin bill on Monday. In last week’s action, Caden Bugarske fired 5.1 innings and allowed only one run in his start. Caden Johnson again starred with six shutout innings in game four of the series.
· Garcia keeps on climbing the program’s all-time lists and is now tied for first with Keaton Candors for most career RBIs with 188. Not only that, Garcia joined Grabanski as the only two Bulldogs to ever reach 50 career home runs and his 233 career hits are one off the school record of 234 by Zak Goodrich. The native of El Cajon, Calif., just might end up having the best season of his career. So far in 2023 (32 games), Garcia is hitting .360 with nine doubles, a triple, 12 home runs, 39 RBIs, a .424 on-base percentage and .772 slugging percentage. Garcia’s career high for home runs in a season was 14 in 2021.
· Grabanski has a shot to lead the NAIA in homers this season. He’s already tied his career high with 18 blasts, putting him No. 2 nationally behind only Cole Turney (21) of Cumberland (Tenn.). Grabanski is hot after the same records that Garcia is pursuing. As just a junior, the Bulldog left fielder has slugged 53 home runs in 144 career games. Among GPAC players, Grabanski ranks No. 1 in home runs, RBIs (51), runs scored (39), hits (44) and slugging percentage (.904). Concordia boasts the league’s top four home run hitters in Grabanski (18), Garcia (12), Jaidan Quinn (10) and Adams (eight). On another note, Zackery Day paces the GPAC with 17 stolen bases.
· The progress of the pitching staff may ultimately decide how successful the Bulldogs can be this spring. At 5.75, the team ERA is certainly higher than Dupic would like for it to be. Caden Johnson emerged last week with only one run allowed over 11 innings in two starts. There have also been moments of brilliance from the likes of Blake Benson, Bugarske, Frankie Cresta and Gutierrez. This week, Cresta will attempt to regain the form that saw him throw a three-hit shutout with 13 strikeouts versus Jamestown. Considering that collection of arms, the depth of the staff is more of a strength than it was in 2022 when the Bulldogs won 40 games.
· Concordia will get comfortable at home this weekend as they will host Dordt (14-12, 2-6 GPAC) for 1 p.m. CT doubleheaders on both Friday and Saturday. The two programs battled in a four-game series last season in Sioux Center, Iowa, where the Bulldogs earned the sweep. The depth of the Defender pitching staff will be put to the test as Dordt played Monday and is scheduled to play at Briar Cliff on Tuesday before making its way to Seward this weekend.
Track & Field
· In week two of the 2023 outdoor season, the Bulldogs made their way to Kearney, Neb., for the Central Nebraska Challenge co-hosted by Hastings and the University of Nebraska-Kearney. Concordia athletes combined to total five automatic national qualifying standards, three ‘B’ standards and five event championships at the challenge. This was the first full-scale meet of the outdoor campaign for Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads. It was mostly just distance runners and throwers that competed at the Grand View Viking Relays a week earlier. For more on the Concordia Track & Field programs, click HERE.
· Through two weeks of action, Bulldog athletes have collectively produced five ‘A’ standards and four ‘B’ standards. One of the ‘B’ standards (via Ben Moll in the hammer throw) came at the Viking Relays. The rest were produced at the Central Nebraska Challenge.
o Jenna Esch – B, 400 Meters (57.08)
o Jordan Koepke – A, 400 Hurdles (1:02.71)
o Ben Moll – B, Hammer Throw (178’)
o Hannah Newton – B, High Jump (5’ 5”)
o Josie Puelz – A, Pole Vault (12’ 1 ½”)
o Adrianna Rodencal – A, 100 Hurdles (14.40)
o Calvin Rohde – B, 1,500 Meters (3:54.98)
o Darien Semedo – A, Hammer Throw (184’ 4”)
o Zach Zohner – A, Pole Vault (16’ 5 ¼”)
· The newest ‘A’ standards were put on the board by Jordan Koepke (400 hurdles), Josie Puelz (pole vault), Adrianna Rodencal (100 hurdles), Darien Semedo (hammer throw) and Zach Zohner (pole vault). Koepke, Puelz and Rodencal each won their respective events and so too did Matthew Boyer in the javelin and Lauren Dawson in the 5,000 meter race walk. The group of Central Nebraska Challenge event runners up included Jenna Esch (400 meters), Rylee Haecker (1,500 meters), Emma Lloyd (discus), Hannah Newton (high jump), Gretchen Stottlemyre (javelin) and Zohner.
· The race walk is an event area that Concordia is taking seriously. In effort to give the Bulldogs a leg up on the competition in the race walk, the Bulldogs have enlisted the help of alum Steve Hoger to help tutor the race walkers. That emphasis paid off last week as Dawson broke the women’s outdoor school record in the race walk with a time of 29:45.12. The previous standard was 32:11.29 by Rachel Kettner in 2010. While Dawson did not hit the ‘A’ standard, she does currently rank No. 11 on the NAIA national list in the event. Dawson was the last competitor to miss the cut for the 2023 indoor national meet.
· By the end of indoor season, it was clear that the Bulldogs had the nation’s best combined men’s and women’s pole vault crew. Thanks to Puelz (12’ 1 ½”) and Zohner (16’ 5 ¼”), the group has its first two national qualifying standards of the outdoor season. Zohner (NAIA indoor runner up) picked up where he left off at the indoor national meet in again skying well above 16 feet. As for the rest of the crew, the Central Nebraska Challenge was just a start. Erin Boggs and Amira Cummings both placed in the top five on the women’s side. Puelz has won each of the past five NAIA women’s pole vault national titles.
· It appears clear that the hurdles will be a strength on the women’s side as Concordia will trot out the 2023 GPAC Indoor Athlete of the Year in Rodencal and the GPAC meet record holder in the 400 hurdles in Koepke. In the 100 hurdles last week, Rodencal ran 14.40, the second fastest in school history as she beat out a field of 24 competitors. Koepke ran 1:02.71 in the 400 hurdles in defeating all of her opposition in Kearney. Rodencal ran 1:07.84 and placed fourth out of the field of 13 individuals in the 400 hurdles. Another strong hurdler, Rachel Battershell has yet to compete this outdoor season.
· The results for Semedo represented a major breakthrough after he made his first career nationals appearance this past indoor season. The native of Sacramento, Calif., competed with the big boys in the “invitational” men’s hammer and popped off a personal best of 184’ 4,” placing him fifth. Two teammates were in that same competition: Dagne’ Buck (174’ 9”) and Ben Moll (174’ 1”). As for Boyer, his winning toss in the javelin measured at 175’ 9.” Other top throws performances were put forth by Connor Asche in shot put (46’ 4 ¾”), Carson Fehlhafer in discus (153’ 11”), Lloyd in discus (135’ 2”), Erin Painter in hammer (155’ 3”), Kamryn Pokorney in shot put (41’ 5 ¼”) and Stottlemyre in javelin (117’ 1”).
· The Bulldogs will be headed back to central Iowa for a second time this spring as they look forward to Friday’s Central College Dutch Invitational in Pella, Iowa. The first field events are slated to get underway at 12 p.m. CT from Ron and Joyce Schipper Stadium. More information about the meet can be found HERE. The season’s first home meet is coming up April 14-15 when the Concordia Invitational will take place.
Golf
· A hectic stretch for Bulldog Golf is well underway as both teams have competed over the past few days. The men participated in the Bethel College Spring Invitational (April 1-2) and wound up tied for sixth. Meanwhile, the women’s team is in the process of hosting the Concordia Bulldog Spring Invitational at Highlands Golf Course. At the conclusion of two rounds on Monday, the Bulldogs resided in sixth place out of 11 teams. For more on the Concordia Golf programs: Men | Women.
· While placing in a tie for sixth at the Bethel Invite, the men’s team shot a two-round total of 295-315–610 while playing Hesston Municipal Golf Course in Hesston, Kan., on day one and then Sand Creek Station Golf Course on day two. The Bulldogs placed behind the likes of Doane (577), Midland (590), Southeast Community College (590), Doane ‘B’ (597) and Briar Cliff (599) in the team race. The tournament featured 11 teams and 75 individual golfers. Concordia shot a bit higher than its season average entering the event (294.1).
· Muller entered eight Concordia players into the field. The top finisher for the Bulldogs at the Bethel Invite was Drew D’Ercole, who carded a score of 76-74–150 and tied for 19th. Meanwhile, Ivan Yabut (71-81–152) wound up in a tie for 27th place on the heels of sixth-place claim at the Doane Spring Invite. The rest of the Bulldog team of five in Kansas included Justin Webert (76-80–156; T-35th), Gavin McWhorter (78-80–158; T-39th) and Jake Hagerbaumer (72-88–160; T-48th). In terms of season average, Yabut (73.6) and D’Ercole (73.7) are in a tight race for the team low in 2022-23.
· It was a fine couple of days at the Bethel Invite for Omaha native Jaxson Fullerton, who shot a career low of one-over-par 72 on Saturday. He followed it up with a 79 on Sunday (151 two-round score) and placed in a tie for 23rd overall out of the field of 75 golfers at the Bethel Invite. Fullerton was one of three Bulldogs to compete as individuals. The other two were Jacob Woodmancy (74-80–154; 34th) and Jake Richmond (79-83–162; T-51st).
· The Concordia women carded a two-round score of 346-344–690 while making its way around the home course on Monday. Broken Bow, Neb., native Emery Custer again reset her career low by shooting a nine-over-par 81 in round one on Monday. Custer (81-83–164) is tied for 12th after day one and is just two strokes out of the top 10. Meanwhile, the West Des Moines, Iowa, native Mya Nurse (80-85–165) sits a stroke behind Custer and is tied for 17th. The rest of the team’s top five includes Lauren Havlat (89-80–169; T-24th), Logan Eschliman (96-97–193; 51st) and Sarah Wilson (106-96–202; 56th). In addition, Ericka Kroeker (106-99–205; T-57th) competed as an individual.
· Entering day two, Custer and company were chasing the likes of Iowa Western Community College (633), University of Nebraska-Kearney (640), Briar Cliff (651), Dakota Wesleyan (682) and Morningside (684). This marks the first time the Concordia Invite has ever used a three-round format. Former Bulldog great Kendra Placke was the individual champion at last year’s tournament.
· The Concordia men will be back to action at the beginning of next week (April 10-11) with the Midwest Spring National Invite hosted by Kansas Wesleyan University at Colbert Hills Golf Course in Manhattan, Kan. Next up for the women will be the College of Saint Mary Spring Invite at Tiburon Golf Club in Omaha on April 12-13.
Tennis
· A road trip to Lawrence, Kan., and a visit from Morningside made up last week’s schedule for both the men’s and women’s programs. On the women’s side, the Bulldogs earned a 5-2 win over Baker University (Kan.) before being tripped up by the Mustangs, 6-1. Meanwhile, the men fell by an identical 6-1 score to Morningside. The men’s match with Baker was not played due to the Wildcats not having enough players to field a lineup. Heading into this week, Head Coach Cam Long’s squads are 8-6 overall (1-1 GPAC) on the women’s side and 7-6 overall (1-1 GPAC) on the men’s side. For more on the Concordia Tennis programs: Men | Women.
· The win streak for the Bulldog men was halted at five. They went a perfect 5-0 during the month of March. Another win may come in the form of a forfeit since Baker failed to inform Concordia of its lack of players prior to departure on the day the match was scheduled. During the win streak, the Bulldogs toppled the likes of Sterling College (Kan.), 7-0, Bethany College (Kan.), 7-0, Kansas Wesleyan University, 4-3, Central College (Iowa), 5-4, and Hastings, 7-0. Prior to the meeting with Morningside, Concordia had not lost since a 4-0 defeat at the hands of 10th-ranked William Woods University (Mo.) on Feb. 25.
· On the women’s side of things, the Bulldogs went 5-1 in March with the only defeat being a 4-3 loss to Bethany. The wins came over Sterling, 7-0, Kansas Wesleyan, 7-0, Central, 5-4, Hastings, 7-0 and Baker, 5-2. A tough slate in February appears to have sharpened Concordia, which played two strong JUCOs and No. 23 William Woods earlier this spring. Among GPAC teams, the Bulldogs are currently ranked fifth behind Midland, Morningside, Doane and College of Saint Mary.
· In action with Baker, the Concordia women took four singles matches and two doubles contests on their way to victory. Singles winners were Mariana Molano at No. 1, Ella Dean at No. 4, Brooke Hosick at No. 5 and Gabrielle Heiser at No. 6. The doubles victors were Molano and Tara Ferrel at No. 2 and Dean and Heiser at No. 3. Positive results were harder to come by versus Morningside, but Tessa Blough managed to win at both No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles. Blough paired with Alana Lopez Pagan in doubles. On the men’s side, the winners versus Morningside were Manuel Rodriguez at No. 5 singles (three sets) and Hugo Fuentes and Shawn Springer at No. 2 doubles.
· Through 14 matches, the Bulldog women have gone a combined 43-38 in singles and 26-15 in doubles play. At the top of the lineup, Molano saw her singles win streak ended at five. However, she continues to lead the team in singles wins with a 9-5 mark in dual meets. Four of her teammates have exactly five singles wins: Dean (5-3), Lopez Pagan (5-6), Blough (5-7) and Hosick (5-7). In doubles, Dean and Heiser have been near perfect with a 5-1 record as partners.
· Through 13 matches, the Concordia men have gone a combined 39-36 in singles and 19-19 in doubles play. Rodriguez continues to clean up at the back end of the lineup and has won eight singles matches in a row to push his overall season record to 10-2. Three of his teammates have notched at least seven wins: Santiago Abadia (7-4), Fuentes (6-6) and Juan Rabellino (6-6). In doubles, Abadia and Eduardo Rojas have gone 6-2 as a tandem. Abadia was just named the GPAC Player of the Week on March 29.
· Rivalry matches are on this week’s docket as both Bulldog squads look forward to hosting Doane. The women’s match is set for a first serve today (April 4) at 4:30 p.m. CT from the Bulldog Tennis Courts. The men will then take on Doane at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Long’s squads will then have the Easter weekend off from competition.
Softball
· Last week wasn’t what the Bulldogs had hoped for from a results standpoint. Concordia was swept in doubleheaders by two in-state rivals: Doane (March 28) and Hastings (April 1). In action in Crete, Neb., Concordia fell by scores of 6-2 and 7-5. The Bulldogs were then defeated at home by the Broncos, 4-2 and 8-2. Head Coach Brock Culler’s squad has dropped five-straight conference games and is now 1-5 in league play (12-17 overall). Concordia had opened GPAC play with a 2-1 win over Morningside. For more on the Concordia Softball program, click HERE.
· Inside the dugout, the Bulldogs will not dwell on it too much, but it was another week of scuffling at the plate. Concordia hit .214 (22-for-103) over last week’s action and managed only three extra-base hits. The Bulldogs have been especially quiet in their six home games having totaled seven runs over doubleheaders with Nebraska Wesleyan, Morningside and Hastings. The results are a stark contrast to what Concordia had been doing earlier in the spring. For example, the Bulldogs went 3-1 at the Friends Invite (March 3-4) when they racked up a combined 46 runs in four games. Rediscovering that offensive firepower will be a key to potentially climbing the GPAC standings during the month of April.
· Concordia saw its seven-game series win streak over Doane (16-12, 3-3 GPAC) get snapped while it faced former teammate Camry Moore last week in Crete. Moore fired a complete game in the opener as the Bulldogs got their lone two runs on Caitlyn McGarvie’s two-run single in the third. Moore outdueled Megan Eurich while limiting Concordia to five hits. Eurich racked up eight strikeouts as she continued as strong sophomore season. In game two, the Bulldogs made a late push before stranding the bases loaded in the top of the seventh. Moore earned the save while recording the final two outs. The Concordia bats came alive to produce 10 hits in the contest, including two knocks apiece from Kylie Shottenkirk, Julia Van Wey and Delanie Voshell.
· Four days later, the Bulldogs never could sustain anything offensively as the Hastings pitching combination of Kyleigh Boever and Sophia Haverkamp quieted the bats. Concordia was limited to a combined seven hits on the day. Despite some of the offensive struggles, the Bulldogs nearly got the win in game one. They took a 2-1 lead to the seventh behind ace Eurich. Unfortunately, the Broncos (11-13, 5-1 GPAC) rallied back with three runs and won it, 4-2. Eurich went all seven innings and allowed three earned runs on seven hits and a walk to go along with six strikeouts. Game two eventually got away from Concordia. The only offense in that contest was produced by Jerzi Rowe’s two-run single.
· The belief is that the best players on the Bulldogs will heat up soon. As things stand, six Concordia regulars are hitting above .300: Hanna Bowers (.387), Shottenkirk (.352), Aubrey Bruning (.333), Van Wey (.305), McGarvie (.303) and Delanie Voshell (.301). As a team, Concordia is hitting .287 and averaging 4.69 runs per game. Other team leaders include Bowers in doubles (eight), runs (20), on-base percentage (.448) and slugging percentage (.538), McGarvie in triples (two), Shottenkirk in home runs (three) and Zoie Isom in RBIs (24).
· A sophomore from Gretna, Neb., Eurich consistently gives the Bulldogs a chance to win. Eurich has completed 10 of her 13 starts and leads the team with 86 innings pitched in 2023. She owns a 3.01 ERA and an 8-5 record. In the 10 complete games, Eurich has allowed more than three earned runs only once. She’s perhaps the team’s most improved player after making only three starts in the circle in 2022. Eurich finished last season at 2-0 with a 4.10 ERA in 42.2 innings. The rest of the staff has featured Rowe (56 IP), Brooke Townsend (32 IP) and Jessie Bestenlehner (12 IP).
· McGarvie (118 career hits) moved past 100 hits for her career earlier this season. Two other Bulldogs could soon reach that number. Counting her one season with Cloud County Community College, Taylor Glause has collected 97 hits (49 at Concordia). Additionally, Van Wey enters this week with 89 career hits to her credit. As for McGarvie, another hot streak is likely coming. She batted .390 last season and is a two-time First Team All-GPAC honoree.
· The two highest rated teams in the GPAC are up next on the schedule. The Bulldogs will welcome Midland (19-6, 4-0 GPAC) to Plum Creek Park for a 1 p.m. CT doubleheader on Friday. Then on Saturday, No. 15 Northwestern (27-2, 4-0 GPAC) will be in town for another 1 p.m. twin bill. The Warriors are the defending GPAC champions while the Red Raiders have become the conference favorite thanks to an impressive run through nonconference action.