SEWARD, Neb. – Another four-game weekend set is forthcoming for the Concordia University Baseball team, which is preparing to play on the road for the first time in conference play. The Bulldogs will take on Midland for two in Fremont on Saturday and then for two more in Seward on Sunday. Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad is coming off a four-game home series with Northwestern that resulted in three wins. Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad owns an overall record of 18-7-1 (7-1 GPAC). In the most recent NAIA coaches’ poll, Concordia was listed as the second team among others receiving votes.
This Week
Saturday, April 2 at Midland (18-5, 5-3 GPAC), 1 p.m. DH
--Webcast | Live Stats: Game 1 | Game 2
Sunday, April 3 vs. Midland (18-5, 5-3 GPAC), 1 p.m. DH
--Live Webcast/Stats
By the numbers
· New sets of GPAC and NAIA national rankings were released last week. In the official conference rating, the Bulldogs were tied with Doane for the No. 1 spot. Concordia also landed just outside of the NAIA top 25 in the latest national coaches’ poll. In addition, the NAIA publishes a national “Bo Chip” ranking (latest edition on March 28) that shows the Bulldogs at No. 52. Meanwhile, Massey Ratings currently lists Concordia as the NAIA’s 27th best team. Both Bo Chip and Massey Ratings are based on computer generated formulas.
· Chilly and blustery conditions made for less-than-ideal hitting conditions during the series with Northwestern (March 24-25). Over the four games, the Bulldog offensive attack batted .269 with a .450 on-base percentage and .471 slugging percentage. While Concordia was limited to ‘only’ five home runs for the series, the lineup showed how it can wear out an opposing pitching staff with patience. The Bulldogs took 27 walks and were hit by eight pitches over the four games. Concordia remains the GPAC leader in virtually every major offensive category, including runs scored (247), batting average (.343), on-base percentage (.459), slugging percentage (.619) and home runs (50).
· Leadoff hitter Jay Adams homered twice in the series with Northwestern while continuing his power surge. The second baseman from Waverly, Neb., is tied with Jaidan Quinn for a team high nine home runs this season. Adams has already far surpassed his homer total of five from 2021. A well-rounded hitter, Adams broke program single season records in ’21 for hits (76) and runs scored (65). So far in 2022, six Bulldogs have hit at least four home runs, including Adams, Quinn, Joey Grabanski (eight), Keaton Candor (six), Ben Berg (four) and Jesse Garcia (four). Garcia delivered a walk-off two-run homer in game three of last week’s series. It came a day after Alec Blakestad supplied a walk-off RBI single. Blakestad was recognized as the GPAC Player of the Week on Tuesday.
· The program’s all-time record holder in home runs (35) and RBIs (153), Keaton Candor is chasing another career milestone. He’s recorded 193 hits, putting him on course to join Zak Goodrich (234) and Christian Meza (216) as the only players in school history to reach 200 career hits. In order to hold onto the career home run lead, Candor will have to keep pace with current teammates. Garcia’s career homer total has reached 33 while Grabanski has belted 25 homers while still in the middle of his second collegiate season. Below is a list of Concordia players all-time with at least 20 career homers.
o Keaton Candor – 35
o Jesse Garcia – 33
o Jarrod Pimentel – 27
o Joey Grabanski – 25
o Ross Wurdeman – 22
o Jack Holmberg – 20
· Among GPAC pitching staffs, only Dordt (11.98) boasts a higher strikeout rate per nine innings than the Bulldogs (11.17). While Concordia works to improve its infield defense, it hopes to continue striking opponents out at a high rate. From an individual perspective, particularly high K/9 ratios have been produced by the likes of Shane Whittaker (16.2), Daniel Rivera (16.0), Jacob Lycan (13.1), Cale Mathison (13.1), Christian Gutierrez (12.6) and Alex Johnson (11.0). With a strong performance last week, Gutierrez has likely earned himself a regular spot in the starting rotation that includes Caden Bugarske, Caden Johnson and Alex Johnson. At the back end of the bullpen, Whittaker (1.54 ERA in 11.2 IP) has wipe-out stuff.
· The conference schedule was decidedly frontloaded with home games. After this weekend, only two GPAC home doubleheaders will remain on the 2022 slate. The final eight games of the regular season will all be on the road with four-game sets scheduled at Dordt and Briar Cliff as part of the stretch run. The final big weekend of home action will be April 15-16, just prior to Easter Sunday. Concordia went 13-3 at home last season and is now 7-1 in home games in 2022.
The opponent
A GPAC regular season champion as recently as 2016, Midland has regrouped nicely after it missed out on the GPAC tournament last season. The Warriors have vaulted up to No. 37 in the NAIA’s Bo Chip ratings on the strength of an 18-5 overall record. A well-balanced team, Midland is averaging 8.5 runs per game while slashing .305/.402/.498 as a team. Meanwhile, the pitching staff owns a 4.90 ERA. Offensively, the likes of Chase Reynolds (.386 BA, 13 XBH) and Dakota Thornton (.351 BA, .452 OBP) have led the attack. There likely won’t be any surprises in terms of the starting pitchers that the Bulldogs will face. Head Coach Chad Miller’s top four starters have started all but one game. Statistically, Jay Lambert has gotten the best results. He sports a 3.94 ERA and a K/9 of 10.41. In last season’s four-game series, Concordia won three times.
Next week
The first lengthy road trip of the conference season is coming up April 8-9. The Bulldogs will be at Morningside on the first day of the journey before taking on Jamestown in North Dakota the following day.