SEWARD, Neb. – The 2024 season is about to heat up, both in terms of the volume of games played and the weather. The Concordia University Baseball team is slated to play 11 games in the state of Florida from March 1-9 as part of a spring break journey featuring action at the RussMatt Invitational and the Warner University Invitational (full schedule at bottom). Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad is set to make appearances in the cities of West Palm Beach, Auburndale and Lake Wales. The Bulldogs (8-3) will take a seven-game winning streak with them on the trip to the southeast.
The schedule for spring break is similar to the one Concordia navigated a year ago. The Bulldogs went 7-4 on their 2023 Florida swing and came away with a trophy as champion of the Warner Invitational. During the 2023 spring break trip, Dupic became the winningest head coach in the program’s history. This marks the third-straight year that Dupic will take the team to The Sunshine State. For each of the first six years of Dupic’s tenure, the program enjoyed spring break in Tucson, Ariz.
A lot of the pieces came together this past week as Concordia went 6-0 and swept a doubleheader at No. 16 Kansas Wesleyan University. The Bulldogs defeated the Coyotes by scores of 14-5 and 5-2. Dupic’s crew then traveled to Fort Scott, Kan., for a four-game weekend series with Culver-Stockton College (Mo.). Concordia won each of those four contests, winning by scores of 23-6, 17-2, 15-4 and 12-1. Over those six games, the Bulldog lineup batted .437 with 86 runs scored, 15 doubles, 23 home runs and an .864 slugging percentage.
Once again, the Bulldogs appear likely to rank among the best offensive teams in the NAIA. Jaidan Quinn went on a tear last week as he batted .722 (13-for-18) with 17 runs, four doubles, seven home runs, 15 RBIs and 38 total bases. Somehow, that production even trumped freshman sensation Matt Rhoades, who batted .565 (13-for-23) with three doubles, five home runs and 13 RBIs. Others who hit home runs last week were Brad Hallock (three), Jay Adams (two), Alec Blakestad (two), Joey Grabanski (two) and Tanner Tompkins (two). Though he didn’t leave the yard, Ty Nekoliczak went 12-for-25 (.480) with nine RBIs for the week.
The pitching staff did a solid job last week in limiting opponents to 18 earned runs on 41 hits and 10 walks in 42 innings. It posted 52 strikeouts. The bullpen has been strong in the early going while making use of a wide variety of arms. The starting rotation has been made up mostly of Caden Johnson, Blake Benson, Caden Bugarske and Christian Gutierrez. Caden Johnson is a two-time First Team All-GPAC award winner and owns 19 career wins (fourth most in program history). The pitching staff has been helped by the addition of shortstop Jimmy Blumberg. His arrival shifted Adams to right field and Nekoliczak to second base.
Spring Break Schedule (March 1-9)
Friday, March 1 at Keiser, 1 p.m. CT / 2 p.m. ET (1 game)
--Live Webcast | Live Stats | Location: Sylvester Field (West Palm Beach, Fla.)
Saturday, March 2 at Keiser, 10 a.m. CT / 11 a.m. ET (DH)
--Live Webcast | Live Stats | Location: Sylvester Field (West Palm Beach, Fla.)
Sunday, March 3 at Keiser, 10 a.m. CT / 11 a.m. ET (1 game)
--Live Webcast | Live Stats | Location: Sylvester Field (West Palm Beach, Fla.)
Monday, March 4 vs. Mount Vernon Nazarene, 12 p.m. CT / 1 p.m. ET (1 game)
--RussMatt Invitational
--NAIA Scoreboard | Location: Lake Myrtle Park Field 7 (Auburndale, Fla.)
Monday, March 4 vs. Valley City State, 6 p.m. CT / 7 p.m. ET (1 game)
--RussMatt Invitational
--NAIA Scoreboard | Location: Lake Myrtle Park Field 7 (Auburndale, Fla.)
Thursday, March 7 vs. Calumet College of St. Joseph, 8 a.m. CT / 9 a.m. ET (1 game)
--Warner Invitational
--Live Webcast | Live Stats | Location: Royals Field (Lake Wales, Fla.)
Thursday, March 7 vs. Lawrence Tech, 11 a.m. CT / 12 p.m. ET (1 game)
--Warner Invitational
--Live Stats | Location: Lake Wales HS (Lake Wales, Fla.)
Friday, March 8 vs. Siena Heights, 8:30 a.m. CT / 9:30 a.m. ET (1 game)
--Warner Invitational
--Live Stats | Location: Lake Wales HS (Lake Wales, Fla.)
Friday, March 8 at Warner, 3:30 p.m. CT / 4:30 p.m. ET (1 game)
--Warner Invitational
--Live Webcast | Live Stats | Location: Royals Field (Lake Wales, Fla.)
Saturday, March 9 vs. TBA, time TBA (1 game)
--Warner Invitational
--Live Stats | Location: TBA (Lake Wales, Fla.)
Post spring break
GPAC league action is scheduled to get started on Saturday, March 16. On that date, Doane will be at Plum Creek Park for a 1 p.m. CT doubleheader. It will be a rematch of the 2023 GPAC tournament championship game. It will be the only regular season meeting between the Bulldogs and Tigers.