SEWARD, Neb. – From a pitching and defensive perspective, the Concordia University Baseball team did what it set out to do on a chilly Thursday (March 21) evening at Plum Creek Park. A 12-0 blanking of Northwestern in game one of the doubleheader marked career coaching victory No. 300 for Head Coach Ryan Dupic. In game two, the 13th-ranked Bulldogs left 13 men on base and failed to come through with the clutch hits in a 3-1 defeat.
Dupic’s squad stands at 2-2 in league play (18-7 overall) after having also split a twin bill at Briar Cliff on Tuesday. The encouraging signs on Thursday were strong starts from pitchers Caden Johnson and Braxton Greenburg.
“We got two really good starts,” Dupic said. “Caden Johnson did a great job and so did Braxton Greenburg. It’s really nice to see those guys throw the ball well. Our starting pitching will be such a big key as we continue on this season. We did a really good job there.”
The first game also had the makings of a pitcher’s duel until Concordia exploded for five runs in the fifth and seven in the sixth. The floodgates opened as Matt Rhoades (RBI single), Jose Cevallos (two-run double) and Tanner Tompkins (two-run single) delivered the type of hits the Bulldogs struggled to find for much of the day. Both Cevallos and Tompkins came on as pinch hitters.
Concordia then made it a rout in the sixth as Alec Blakestad drilled a line drive of a two-run homer to left (25th career homer). Later that frame, Ty Nekoliczak walked with the bases loaded and Jaidan Quinn tucked a drive inside the right field line for a grand slam. Quinn homered for the 14th time this season and for the 60th time in his career. Quinn, Rhoades and Brad Hallock each posted two hits in game one.
Caden Johnson flummoxed the Red Raiders (13-12, 4-2 GPAC) over his six innings. He surrendered only two hits and a walk while fanning six hitters. Johnson picked up the 21st win of his Concordia career. Nate Weaver then tossed a scoreless seventh to polish off the shutout. Then in game two, Greenburg went six innings with just one run allowed on three hits and three walks. He piled up eight strikeouts.
With a 1-1 tie in the top of the seventh, Northwestern’s Sam Stanford found a hole on the left side of the infield for what proved to be the game-winning two-run single. Stanford drove in all three Red Raider runs on the day. The win went to reliever Jakeb Swallow, who pitched two scoreless innings.
At day’s end, the Bulldogs felt like they didn’t fully take advantage of their opportunities. They were unable to make Northwestern pay for the eight walks its pitchers issued in game two. Concordia left 23 runners on in 13 innings of hitting for the day. The team’s lone run in game two came via Tompkins’ RBI single in the fourth.
“It’s one thing to not get the big hit,” Dupic said. "I just don’t think we had good at bats with runners in scoring position. We gave too many away and expanded too much at times. We were a little bit off balance. We have to be a little more competitive in those AB’s than we were today.”
Last March, Dupic became the winningest coach in the Concordia Baseball program’s history. His 300 wins have come over 10 seasons (including one cut short by COVID-19). He’s led the Bulldogs to a combined five GPAC tournament titles and five national tournament appearances during his successful tenure that began with the 2015 season.
The Bulldogs and Red Raiders will meet up again on Friday for a 2 p.m. CT doubleheader as they complete the four-game series. Concordia won three of five games played against Northwestern during the 2023 season.