FOREST CITY, Iowa – Concordia University, Nebraska Baseball muscled up for nine home runs, taking advantage of strong winds that favored the hitters in Forest City, Iowa. The Bulldogs rallied to win game one, 5-4, and then ran away with game two, 20-6, over host Waldorf on Saturday (March 28) afternoon. Jimmy Blumberg homered twice and drove in nine runs for the day and delivered the game-winning RBI double in the weekend’s opening contest.
Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad stands at 19-11 overall (7-3 GPAC) halfway through the weekend road trip. Concordia pulled one out of the fire to start the day.
“It was pretty cold to start the game, and the wind was blowing out really aggressively,” Dupic said. “First game, we didn’t play well at all and didn’t have very good at bats in key situations. We were pretty fortunate to come out with the win, honestly. The wind helped a lot of balls today for both teams. Sometimes you have to win ugly, and we found a way to get it done. I tip my cap to Trent Schlim. He did a great job putting up a couple zeroes … game two just got ugly. They ran out of pitching a little bit.”
Waldorf took a 4-2 lead to the seventh of game one after it scored a run apiece in the fifth and sixth innings. Alex Draper proceeded to light the fireworks with a solo shot to lead off the seventh. Two batters later, Jake Tyler knotted the score with his first career homer as a Bulldog. The contest that was scheduled for seven wound up going eight. Blumberg played the role of hero by clutching up with a two-out RBI double to score Bronx Lewis. In the bottom half, Trent Schlim sealed the deal with a 1-2-3 frame.
Dupic used a by-committee approach from a pitching perspective in game one. In his first outing since February, sophomore Micah Sweeton flashed swing-and-miss stuff. He fanned five of the first six hitters and finished with seven punchouts in three innings (two runs allowed on two hits and two walks). Brody Smearer worked the next three innings (two runs) before Schlim retired all six hitters he faced and picked up his third win in relief.
The staff got all the support it could have asked for in game two. The ball flew out of the yard with the wind howling in a small ballpark. In order, the seven home runs (two shy of a school record for a single game) came from Blumberg (three-run HR; second inning), Jaeden Jordahl (solo; second), Blumberg (three-run HR; fourth), Lewis (two-run HR; fourth), Draper (two-run HR; fifth), Cade Vanis (two-run HR; sixth) and Tyler (three-run HR; seventh). Concordia paraded around the bases with 20 runs on 15 hits (10 for extra bases) and nine walks.
For the day, three Bulldogs knocked the ball around for at least four hits: Draper (5-for-7), Tyler (4-for-8) and Blumberg (4-for-10). Draper and Tyler both homered twice and drove in four runs apiece in lengthening the lineup. Meanwhile, Andrew Fetty went 3-for-6. Lewis reached base six times and pushed his GPAC leading home run tally to 12.
Two pitchers got the job done for Concordia in game two. Freshman Devin Gonor went 5.1 innings with six runs allowed (nine hits and a walk). He piled up 11 strikeouts and earned his third win this season. Daiten Schmidt came on to nail down the final five outs without surrendering a run.
The Bulldogs are excited to have Sweeton back in the fold. Said Dupic, “So good to see him back. He is really, really good. He just made two mistakes and they hit two doubles. All of the sudden, his line doesn’t look as good, but it was so good to see him out there. Hopefully we can keep him healthy.”
Waldorf (9-22, 1-9 GPAC) still has just one conference win this season. The Warriors hosted Concordia for the first time as GPAC members. Waldorf produced three home runs of its own on Saturday.
The Bulldogs will hit the road and trek west for Sunday’s doubleheader at Briar Cliff (13-16, 6-4 GPAC). First pitch is set for 12 p.m. CT from Bishop Mueller Complex in Sioux City, Iowa. In Saturday’s action at Doane, the Chargers dropped both contests. Sunday’s games can be streamed via the GPAC Network.