LINCOLN, Neb. – Bronx Lewis treated fans to three separate ‘wow’ moments, and the bullpen came through while shouldering a heavy load on day one of the GPAC Tournament at Sherman Field in Lincoln, Neb. Second-seeded Concordia University, Nebraska Baseball gritted out a 4-1 win over No. 7 seed Mount Marty in Wednesday (April 29) action despite being outhit, 10-7. The trio of Harrison Hoiekvam, DJ Andersen and Trent Schlim routinely made big pitches in key situations.
Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad (35-15) advances in the winner’s bracket of the pod being hosted by the Bulldogs. Concordia will turn around quickly and play a Thursday matinee.
The result marked win No. 400 for Dupic as the Bulldogs’ skipper. It’s an achievement he’ll likely give greater thought to once the ’26 season is in the books. Said Dupic afterwards, “I was really proud of our team today. Obviously that wasn’t the script (to go to the bullpen in the third inning). We’ve gotten such good starts that sometimes you’re in the bullpen thinking, when’s my next turn going to happen? It’s been a little while since DJ’s thrown, and he came up huge for us. Harrison Hoiekvam came up huge for us and Trent Schlim was ready to go. I couldn’t be more proud of those guys.”
A senior from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Lewis began the game in thunderous fashion when he rocketed a solo homer to right on the first pitch he saw leading off the bottom of the first. His GPAC leading 20th homer was overshadowed by his work in right field. On a base hit with one out in the second, Lewis fired a pellet to third to nab a runner attempting to go first to third. Two innings later, he made a sliding grab to end the fourth with two men on base. For good measure, Lewis capped the top of the eighth with a snare of a fly ball and a one-hop strike to the plate for a double play.
Concordia’s bullpen arms did plenty of work themselves with a combined 10 strikeouts coming from Hoiekvam (three K’s in 2.1 innings) and Andersen (seven K’s in 4.0 innings). Like a good red zone defense, the Bulldogs bent but rarely broke. The Concordia staff limited its walks to two for the entire night and stranded seven runners. Schlim needed only two pitches to record the save. He coaxed a 5-4-3 double play to end the game.
Dupic was forced to make a call to the ‘pen earlier than expected as Johnson was removed after throwing his warmups pitches prior to the top of the third. Johnson threw two scoreless frames (three hits and a walk) to open the contest. The grad student from Olathe, Kan., won all seven of his starts in the regular season versus GPAC competition.
Offensively, the Bulldogs did just enough. They got three runs on just one hit in the bottom of the fifth, a frame that included a Jake Tyler leadoff single, Layton Rivas sac bunt (reached on an error), two walks and two hit batters. Luke Wilson’s sac fly to center with one out actually scored two runs. Andrew Fetty also forced in a run with a bases loaded walk.
The Lancers (19-30) got strong pitching from their own bullpen. Tony Suarez went 3.1 shutout innings with eight strikeouts in relief. Starter Palmer Jacobs was tagged with the loss after he tossed four innings (three runs – one earned).
It was pitching and defense that made the difference for Concordia. Said Dupic, “We made some tremendous defensive plays. Bronx Lewis was incredible throwing the baseball and tracking it – making a big diving play, the home run. I just thought our defense was great. It was just a solid team win … Bronx was special. They got a base hit and started to get something going – he throws them out. That was so huge. They had some momentum in the eighth. That throw was such a big play.”
On Thursday, Concordia will take on Dakota Wesleyan (20-26) at noon. The sixth-seeded Tigers upset No. 3 seed Morningside, 12-9, in Wednesday’s first game of the Concordia bracket. The bracket’s results and schedule are included below. The Concordia/DWU winner will take the rest of Thursday off and play again on Friday.
Concordia Bracket Info
• Full Bracket | Game Program (PDF)
• Location: Sherman Field | Lincoln, Neb.
• Live Webcasts: GPAC Network
• Live Stats: Presto Stats
• Buy Tickets
Wednesday, April 29
Game 1 – (6) Dakota Wesleyan def. (3) Morningside, 12-9 | Box Score
Game 2 – (2) Concordia def. (7) Mount Marty, 4-1 | Box Score
Thursday, April 30
Game 3 – (2) Concordia vs. (6) Dakota Wesleyan, 12 p.m.
Game 4 – (3) Morningside vs. (7) Mount Marty, 3 p.m.
Game 5 – Game 4 Winner vs. Game 3 Loser, 6 p.m.
Friday, May 1
Game 6 – Game 3 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner, 12 p.m.
Game 7 – Game 6 Winner vs. Game 6 Loser, 3 p.m. (if necessary)
GPAC Championship Game – Monday, May 4 (highest seed hosts)