CRETE, Neb. – Concordia University, Nebraska Baseball essentially came up one big hit or pitch shy of winning the four-game series with rival and 23rd-ranked Doane. The two sides wound up battling to a four-game stalemate with doubleheader splits resulting on both Friday and Saturday (March 20-21). In the latest clash (played in sultry 90-degree heat) that took place in Crete, Neb., the Bulldogs earned a 6-3 win in game one before being edged in game two, 7-6. The final out of the series finale was recorded with the bases loaded.
Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad has now played 11 games against NAIA top 25 teams. Concordia stands at 5-3 in league play (17-11 overall) with two weekends of conference play in the books.
“Game one was really good,” Dupic said. “We got a couple big swings and Brody Smearer did a nice job. He made one mistake on a breaking ball, and they got him on it. He was pretty good and Trent Schlim was really good there late. He’s been coming on for us. Game two, we just dug too big of a hole. We had so many opportunities to get outs on pickoffs and fly balls to the outfield. We just had way too many mistakes. It’s a credit to our team that we fought back and made it tight. We just weren’t clean enough to win that last game.”
Senior Bronx Lewis wreaked havoc on Saturday as he reached base in six of eight plate appearances (5-for-7) and twice homered the opposite way (to left). Lewis added insurance in series game three when he lofted a drive over the left field wall, pushing the lead to 5-3 in the sixth. In the finale, Lewis erased a 6-3 deficit when he deposited the ball over the left-center wall for a three-run homer in the fifth. Lewis also doubled home a run an inning earlier.
In Saturday’s first contest, the lead changed hands four times. Concordia put itself in front for good with Alex Draper’s two-run blast to center in the fourth, answering the two-run homer from Doane’s Brayden Jones in the previous half inning. As part of an eight-hit attack, Carson Burnett (first inning), Jake Watson (third) and Cade Vanis (sixth) rapped out an RBI single apiece. Burnett notched two hits in the victory. All six runs were charged to Tiger starter Gabe Rodriguez.
On the mound for the Bulldogs, freshmen Brody Smearer (win) and Trent Schlim (save) combined to cover all seven innings of the win. Smearer allowed three runs on four hits and a walk (two strikeouts). Schlim then fired three scoreless innings (two K’s) in relief. A 1-2-3 seventh made for a no-drama conclusion.
The opposite was true of the series finale. Doane built a 6-0 lead by scoring twice in the first and four times in the fourth. Concordia got to pitcher Riley Plummer in the bottom of the fourth as Lewis pinged and RBI double and Draper and Jimmy Blumberg followed with an RBI single apiece. An inning later, Lewis’ GPAC leading 11th homer of the season knotted the score at 6-6. Worth noting, leadoff man Jaeden Jordahl drew five walks, was hit by a pitch and stole three bases on the day.
Both teams then went quiet until the ninth when Doane regained the lead with the help of back-to-back singles and then a Bulldog error. In the bottom half, the Bulldogs loaded the bases with a single sandwiched between two walks. The Tigers recorded the final out when Blumberg grounded to third against reliever Josh Kearney, who threw four shutout frames.
Dupic used four pitchers in the series finale: Devin Gonor (3 IP), Alex Griess (1.2 IP), Warren Rose (3.1 IP) and DJ Anderson (1 IP). Rose kept the game knotted in the middle to late innings with a scoreless performance. Gonor was chased after three innings while allowing six runs (five earned).
Said Dupic in summing up the series, “I thought we took a nice step offensively. We didn’t pitch bad, but I think we can pitch better. Same thing defensively. It’s good to see that we’re right there with Doane, a team that is usually in the hunt for the conference championship. We’re right there despite making some mistakes. Our guys are hanging in there. We’ll try to keep getting better and get on a bit of a run.”
A weekend road trip is on the docket for next week. The Bulldogs are slated to play doubleheaders at Waldorf (8-19, 1-6 GPAC) on March 28 and at Briar Cliff (13-14, 6-2 GPAC) on March 29. In this week’s action, the Warriors lost twice at Mount Marty and were in action versus Midland while the Chargers won three of four as they took on Northwestern and Mount Marty.