MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – St. Thomas University (Fla.) is showing why it vaulted up to No. 17 in the first NAIA Coaches’ Poll of the regular season. The Bobcats have taken the first three games in the series with the 18th-ranked Concordia University, Nebraska Baseball team. A relentless STU offense played a starring role in handing the Bulldogs Friday (March 6) defeats by scores of 11-2 and 8-4. The Bobcats pounded out 22 hits on the day.
Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad (11-6) is in the midst of a six-game stretch in The Sunshine State. The hope is that these games against top-notch competition will result in improvement in the long run.
“St. Thomas is a really good team, and they challenge you in all facets of the game,” Dupic said. “The areas we are still working to improve get exposed against a quality team like them. We are in positions to make winning plays, pitches and swings but haven’t executed well enough to beat a team of their caliber. But I am glad that we are getting challenged to a higher level.”
St. Thomas has combined a potent offense with swing-and-miss pitching in the series. In Friday’s first game, the Bobcats put up two runs in the second, three in the fourth and six in the fifth. Alex Johnson covered four innings and surrendered five runs (four earned) on eight hits and two walks. He posted six strikeouts. On the other side, STU starter Ismael Cordoba racked up 11 strikeouts over six innings (one run allowed).
The Bulldogs finished with 12 hits on the day. In the first contest, Concordia got a run in the first inning with the help of an error. Then in the sixth, Jake Tyler doubled home a run to conclude the game’s scoring. In the second game, the Bulldogs were limited to only three hits. Three of the four Concordia runs came in the eighth when Andrew Fetty’s single plated three runs (with one coming across with the help of an error). Luke Wilson paced the Bulldogs with three hits for the day.
Concordia used seven pitchers to navigate 14 innings of work. Caden Bugarske wound up covering four frames in relief in the day’s second game. Leif Friedrich turned in a scoreless inning with two strikeouts in game one (series game two). The Bulldogs committed four errors compared to St. Thomas’ five miscues. The Bobcats made up for it at the plate. They left the yard three times in game one of the doubleheader.
The final game of the series is scheduled to get underway at 12 p.m. CT / 1 p.m. ET on Saturday from Miami Gardens. The game can be watched live via the Urban Edge Network.