Bulldogs knock off No. 8 St. Thomas in top 25 matchup

By Jacob Knabel on Mar. 7, 2023 in Baseball

DAVENPORT, Fla. – A day after Ryan Dupic took the title of the winningest coach in Concordia University Baseball history, second baseman Jay Adams reached a milestone and the 21st-ranked Bulldogs celebrated a win over No. 8 St. Thomas University (Fla.). Concordia was credited with a 12-6 victory on Tuesday (March 7) at the RussMatt Invitational after darkness ended the game with eight innings complete. The result gave the Bulldogs their third win this season over a top 25 opponent.

Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad has moved to 10-7 overall while navigating a schedule that has included nine opponents either ranked or receiving votes nationally in the preseason. St. Thomas is the highest rated foe the Bulldogs have taken down so far.

“Our guys did a great job against a really good arm,” Dupic said. “I thought we battled them really well and we were able to jump on their bullpen. We had really good plate discipline and didn’t expand the strike zone too much. We had some tough at bats where we drew some walks, then got some big swings to open the floodgates a little bit.”

Concordia actually trailed Tuesday’s game 5-0 at one point before storming back with a seven-run fifth inning. The Bulldogs added a run in the sixth and two more in both the seventh and eighth frames. As part of the seven-run outburst, Jesse Garcia singled in two runs, Ben Berg knocked in three with a double and Teyt Johnson drove in another with a double of his own. Concordia took an 8-5 lead to seventh before adding some insurance thanks to a Joey Grabanski two-run double and then (in the eighth) an Alec Blakestad solo homer and a Calvin Davis RBI single.

Adams became the fifth player in program history to reach 200 career hits when he doubled to lead off the top of the sixth. Leading the attack, Teyt Johnson went 3-for-5 with two runs. Garcia also added a pair of hits and Jaidan Quinn reached base three times. Against a top 10 opponent, the lineup generated 13 hits and six walks.

On the rubber, Qwin Zabokrtsky pitched the first two innings before giving way to Jacob Lycan. The Millard North High School product proceeded to navigate five innings (his longest career outing) while picking up the win. Lycan allowed two earned runs on five hits and three walks. Patrick Zeller then worked a scoreless eighth inning prior to the game concluding early. St. Thomas sports an identical record to Concordia’s 10-7 mark.

The Bulldogs will have a much-needed day off from game action on Wednesday. The Florida tour will resume on Thursday at the Warner University Invite. As part of Thursday’s action in Lake Wales, Fla., Concordia will take on Lawrence Tech (Mich.) at 12:30 p.m. ET (11:30 a.m. CT) and host Warner at 6:30 p.m. ET (5:30 p.m. CT). The Bulldogs will also play Friday and Saturday in Lake Wales.