2023 NAIA Opening Round Schedule
VIDEO: Bulldogs react during NAIA selection show
SEWARD, Neb. – The Concordia University Baseball program’s fifth all-time appearance at the NAIA National Championship Opening Round will take place in Lawrenceville, Ga., home to Georgia Gwinnett College. Opening round assignments were made official on Thursday (May 11) by the NAIA. The Bulldogs were rewarded with a No. 3 seed in the opening round and will take on No. 2 seed Freed-Hardeman University (Tenn.) on Monday, May 15. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. CT (3 p.m. local time in Georgia). The opening round features a double-elimination style bracket.
The field for the 2023 Lawrenceville Bracket includes:
· No. 1 Georgia Gwinnett (47-5)
· No. 2 Freed-Hardeman (37-19)
· No. 3 Concordia (38-16)
· No. 4 Midway (27-22)
· No. 5 Saint Xavier (31-25)
Location: Grizzly Baseball Complex | Lawrenceville, Georgia
Head Coach Ryan Dupic has guided Concordia to national tournament berths in 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023. The ’21 team made history by advancing to the NAIA World Series while the ’22 squad came within one game of a return trip to Lewiston, Idaho. The 2023 Bulldogs have earned an automatic national tournament berth as the GPAC regular season runner up. During the regular season, Concordia matched up with seven teams that have qualified for the 2023 opening round: Bellevue, Central Methodist (Mo.), Columbia (Mo.), Doane, Grand View (Iowa), Morningside and Oklahoma City.
On Wednesday, all-conference teams were announced by the GPAC. Eight Bulldogs landed on the first team: Jay Adams, Ben Berg, Alec Blakestad, Jesse Garcia, Joey Grabanski, Caden Johnson, Ty Nekoliczak and Jaidan Quinn. Grabanski became the second player in program history to earn GPAC Player of the Year accolades. Heading into the national tournament, the Concordia lineup has broken school single season records runs scored (548) and home runs (114). Quinn (27) and Grabanski (24) both rank among the top five on the NAIA home run leaderboard.
The winners of all 10 opening round sites will head to Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) for the 66th annual Avista NAIA Baseball World Series in Lewiston, Idaho, May 26 – June 2. For more information on the World Series, click HERE.
The field consists of 31 automatic qualifiers – given to conference regular-season champions, tournament champions or tournament runners-up – and 15 at-large teams. Conferences with 10-or-more members receive two automatic qualifiers, while leagues with less than 10 get one.
At-large teams were determined by the NAIA Baseball National Selection Committee (NSC). The NSC consists of one representative from each geographic area, a representative from the National Administrative Council, a member of the NAIA-Baseball Coaches Association Executive Committee and three at-large members. The committee evaluated teams throughout the year on various criteria.
Facts about Concordia at the national tournament
· A 2021 NAIA World Series qualifier, Concordia has appeared in the opening round of the national tournament for the fifth time in program history. Each of those appearances have come during the tenure of Ryan Dupic, who first took the Bulldogs to the opening round in 2017. In previous appearances, the Bulldogs made their way to Hutchinson, Kan., in 2017, to Henderson, Tenn., in 2019 and to Bellevue, Neb., in both 2021 and 2022. Concordia is 10-7 all-time in opening round games and has won at least one national tournament game in each of the four prior appearances. Opening round wins have come over Jamestown (2017), Clarke University (2019), MidAmerica Nazarene University (twice in 2021), Bellevue (twice in 2021 and once in 2022), Central Methodist University (2022), Judson University (2022) and Tabor College (2022).
· It’s been extremely rare for a GPAC team to reach the NAIA World Series. In fact, only once before Concordia reached that stage in 2021 had a GPAC squad advanced to the World Series – Briar Cliff accomplished that feat in 2005. Two current GPAC members appeared in the World Series either before the GPAC formed or prior to joining the league: Jamestown (2004 and 2008) and Morningside (1960). Briar Cliff went 0-2 in its 2005 trip to the World Series. No GPAC team has ever won a game at the World Series.
· The ’22 Bulldogs came within one win of a return trip to the World Series. While being sent to Bellevue for a second year in a row, Concordia dropped its first game of the tournament (5-1 to Judson) and then rallied back to claim four straight victories. The Bulldogs turned some heads when they routed host and sixth-ranked Bellevue, 16-2, to force a winner-take-all contest. In that blowout, Concordia went deep six times with one home run apiece coming from Jay Adams, Joey Grabanski, Jaidan Quinn, Keaton Candor, Jesse Garcia and Teyt Johnson. Caden Johnson fired seven strong innings in the triumph. Ultimately, the Bruins took the next game, 5-2, and booked their trip to the NAIA World Series.
· While going 4-1 during the 2021 opening round, the Bulldogs outscored their opponents, 38-32. Four of the games were played at Brown Park in Omaha while one contest was played at Don Roddy Field in Bellevue. Keaton Candor paced the team at the plate in the opening round by going 8-for-23 (.348) with four doubles, three home runs and eight RBIs. Jakob Faulk also pounded three home runs (including two in the clinching game) and Jesse Garcia belted two blasts. Twelve different pitchers were used. Nick Little (9 IP) and Caden Bugarske (8.1 IP) logged the most innings during the opening round. Nathan Buckallew earned credit for two wins.
· Dupic has brought about what is certainly the golden age of Concordia Baseball. Prior to Dupic’s arrival in 2015, the Bulldogs had never been to a national tournament. The program had also not experienced a winning season since 1979 and had not won a conference championship since 1986 (8-4 in NIAC play) when Athletic Trainer Randy Baack pitched and played first base. In addition to leading Concordia to five national tournaments, Dupic (280-161-1) became the winningest coach in program history this season. During Dupic’s tenure (2015-present), the Bulldogs lead all GPAC baseball programs in overall wins (280), GPAC regular season wins (138), overall winning percentage (.635), conference regular season winning percentage (.663) and total GPAC championships (five).
· The 2017 Bulldogs won the GPAC regular season title (tournament runner up) and became the first national tournament qualifier in program history. As part of that run, Casey Berg recorded the program’s first-ever hit at the national tournament with a single in the bottom of the first versus Jamestown on May 15, 2017. That appearance helped pave the way for the success Concordia is enjoying now. The Bulldogs won’t have any fear of the national stage. Five Bulldogs who started the program’s first-ever World Series game are on the current postseason roster: Jay Adams, Ben Berg, Jesse Garcia, Joey Grabanski and Teyt Johnson.
Lawrenceville Bracket Schedule
All times EDT
Monday, May 15
Game 1 – (4) Midway vs. (5) Saint Xavier, 11 a.m.
Game 2 – (2) Freed-Hardeman vs. (3) Concordia, 3 p.m.
Game 3 – (1) Georgia Gwinnett vs. Game 1 Winner, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, May 16
Game 4 – Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser, 11 a.m.
Game 5 – Game 2 Winner vs. Game 3 Winner, 3 p.m.
Game 6 – Game 3 Loser vs. Game 4 Winner, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, May 17
Game 7 – Game 5 Loser vs. Game 6 Winner, 11 a.m.
Game 8 – Game 5 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner, 3 p.m.
Thursday, May 18
Game 9 – Game 8 Winner vs. Game 8 Loser (if necessary), 11 a.m.