FORT SCOTT, Kan. – The Concordia University Baseball team was playing MLB The Show on easy mode all weekend. The Bulldogs continued to wear out the basepaths on Sunday (Feb. 25) as they homered 11 times and racked up 32 hits while wiping out Culver-Stockton College (Mo.) in games three and four of the four-game series. The latest matchups went to Concordia by scores of 15-4 and 12-1. Jaidan Quinn finished off a week full of video game numbers, homering three more times on Sunday.
Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad outscored the Wildcats by a combined total of 67-13 for the weekend. A 6-0 week has pushed the Bulldogs to 8-3 overall.
“Our guys keep swinging it well,” Dupic said. “Even the guys who didn’t hit home runs did a really nice job. And then I thought our bullpen was pretty good today. We pieced together the second game today and threw a bunch of different guys. It was a good day. We played pretty well defensively.”
While Quinn left the yard three times on Sunday, so too did Brad Hallock. In addition, Matt Rhoades belted two homers and Jay Adams, Joey Grabanski and Tanner Tompkins pulverized a home run apiece. Quinn and Grabanski drove in six runs apiece on the day. Four Concordia hitters produced four or more hits on Sunday: Quinn (6-for-7), Rhoades (5-for-8), Grabanski (5-for-9) and Ty Nekoliczak (4-for-10). Quinn also doubled twice, walked and scored seven runs.
In game three of the series, the Bulldogs scored at least one run in every inning. Hallock got on the board with the day’s first blast with a two-run shot in the second. Concordia grew its lead to 9-4 in the fourth with the help of Grabanski’s three-run homer. In game four of the series, the Bulldogs put the game out of reach with six runs in the fourth. Rhoades unloaded for a two-run homer that jump-started the inning. There were only two innings all day that saw Concordia go scoreless. It also made just one error for the day.
The numbers Quinn and Rhoades put up all week are enough to terrify opposing hurlers. As part of the 6-0 week, the Bonner Springs, Kan., native Quinn went 13-for-18 (.722) with 17 runs, four doubles, seven home runs, six walks and 38 total bases (2.111 slugging percentage). As for the freshman Rhoades from Monument, Colo., he went 13-for-23 (.565) with 10 runs, three doubles, five home runs, 13 RBIs and 31 total bases (1.348 slugging percentage). Rhoades has made the jump to college baseball look much too easy.
Said Dupic, “As a freshman coming in, it’s pretty incredible to get off to this good of a start offensively. Having that towards the back half of our lineup is pretty good for our team right now.”
Eight different pitchers combined to cover the 14 innings of action on Sunday. Qwin Zabokrtsky threw six innings of the first contest and allowed four runs on 10 hits with no walks. He struck out two batters. Cameron Pickens then tossed three shutout innings with just one hit allowed in the series finale. The army of relievers for the day included (in order): Logan Fragomeni, Ernie Snyder, Sam Rambajan, Braxton Greenburg, Maverick Wylder and Jacob Lycan. Starters Caden Johnson and Caden Bugarske were kept fresh for the upcoming road trip.
Culver-Stockton (1-11) has had a tough go of it through 12 games. However, the Wildcats played tight games with strong teams like Doane and Columbia College (Mo.) in recent action. Culver-Stockon mustered some offense in Sunday’s first game in tallying 11 hits, including three apiece Kannon Kirk and Jaison Andujar.
The next time the Bulldogs take the diamond, they will have arrived in West Palm Beach, Fla., for spring break. The tour of The Sunshine State will begin with a four-game series at Keiser University starting March 1. Concordia will also take part in the RussMatt Invitational and the Warner University Invitational.