CRETE, Neb. – Two high quality teams squared off in a battle of GPAC championship contenders on Friday (April 2). An eight-run sixth inning punctuated by a Keaton Candor three-run blast carried the 20th-ranked Concordia University Baseball team to a 9-8 victory in game 1 of the doubleheader at Doane. The host Tigers responded with a nine-run seventh in game 2 and took that contest, 14-8.
Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad (21-4, 8-2 GPAC) managed to tag Doane (18-9-1, 9-1 GPAC) with its first conference loss of the season. Dupic had hoped for better results in the pitching department on Friday. The Bulldogs were plagued by the 15 free passes they issued in the twin bill.
“I was proud of our guys for the way they fought back in that first game and for putting a big inning together,” Dupic said. “We had some big swings and great at bats as the game went on. They carried that into the second game really well too. We swung the bats well even though it was a bit of a tough day offensively with the wind blowing in from right. Obviously Keaton had a really big swing to put us up.
“We just didn’t pitch well enough to be able to get both today. We struggled in both games and walked too many in the first one. We were in a position to win the second one but couldn’t get it done out of the bullpen. It was two good teams.”
Concordia rallied from a 7-1 deficit that it faced heading into the sixth. Before Candor came to the plate, RBIs came from Jakob Faulk (single), Jayden Adams (bases loaded walk), Jesse Garcia (single) and Beau Dorman (two-run single). With two on and two out, Candor sent a rocket over the left field wall in setting off a frenzy within the visitor’s dugout. Suddenly, the Bulldogs led, 9-7.
Doane got one unearned run in the seventh before Nathan Buckallew closed out the game with three-straight ground outs. Buckallew fired the final two innings of game 1 and earned the save. Ben Coldiron was credited with the win.
Thanks to a five-run seventh in game 2, Concordia built a 7-4 advantage. In that frame, Dorman singled in a run, Candor forced in a run with a walk, Ben Berg forced in another with a hit-by-pitch and Faulk plated two more with a base hit. Unfortunately, the wheels fell off in the bottom half when the Tigers chased starting pitcher Trent Wood from the ballgame. Luke LaChance’s three-run triple proved to be a crippling blow. Lukas White also had a productive game for the villains in going 3-for-5 with three RBIs.
Wood covered 6.1 innings of game 2 and allowed seven runs on eight hits and two walks. He fanned 11 hitters. Wildness prevented Jake Fosgett (2.2 IP) from going deep in game 1. He recorded six strikeouts before being lifted. Four Concordia position players collected exactly three hits on the day: Adams, Candor, Jose Cevallos and Dorman.
With a home run apiece from Candor and Joey Grabanski on Friday, the 2021 Bulldogs broke the school record for homers in a single season with 41. The previous standard of 40 was held by the 2019 GPAC championship team.
The Bulldogs will trek north on Saturday for a 1 p.m. CT doubleheader at Mount Marty (17-11, 5-5 GPAC). The Lancers play their home games at Bob Tereshinski Stadium at Riverside Field in Yankton, S.D. In Friday’s action, Mount Marty split a home doubleheader with Hastings. There is no live webcast scheduled, but the games can be heard live on KYNT Radio out of Yankton.