HASTINGS, Neb. – Before thunderstorms engulfed the area, Concordia University, Nebraska Baseball and Hastings managed to play the first game of a scheduled Saturday (April 25) doubleheader at Duncan Field. The host Broncos dashed what hopes the Bulldogs had of earning a GPAC regular season championship, taking the seven-inning contest by a score of 3-1. The lone Concordia run came in the third inning while up against Bronco hurler Cameron Dahlgren.
The Bulldogs and Broncos will be back at Duncan Field on Sunday morning to complete the regular season. Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad (33-15, 21-6 GPAC) is locked into the GPAC’s No. 2 seed regardless of what transpires in the regular season finale.
Outside of the weather, Dahlgren was the story of the day. He quieted the Concordia bats, stranding multiple runners on base in the second, third and sixth innings. Dahlgren went all seven innings, surrendering just one unearned run on six hits and two walks. He notched five strikeouts and needed 108 pitches to complete the game. The Bulldogs got their run in the third when Luke Wilson scored Jaeden Jordahl on a sacrifice fly.
All three Hastings runs came in the second inning off Concordia starter Caden Bugarske. Levi Fletcher and Chris Faherty delivered back-to-back RBI singles. Two of the three runs were unearned due to a Bulldog error. Both teams then went scoreless over the game’s final four innings.
A bright spot for Concordia was the work of Harrison Hoiekvam out of the bullpen. The sophomore righthander from Omaha faced only one batter over the minimum in his four innings of work. He racked up eight strikeouts and surrendered just a single hit. Hoiekvam has collected 16 strikeouts over his past two outings (7.1 innings).
In leading the Bulldogs offensively, both Carson Burnett and Bronx Lewis went 2-for-3 with a double on Saturday. In a notable season accomplishment, catcher Jake Watson broke the program record for putouts in a single season. His 396 putouts have surpassed the previous standard of 393 set by Kaleb Geiger in 2016. Watson has been an iron man behind the plate.
The tradition of Concordia Baseball hosting in the GPAC tournament will continue once the regular season wraps up. The Bulldogs are slated to return to Hastings for a single game at 10 a.m. CT on Sunday (April 26). The game must be played in order to help determine the 6 through 8 seeds in the conference tournament bracket. GPAC postseason play is slated to get underway on April 29.