SEWARD, Neb. – As two-time defending GPAC tournament champions, the Concordia Baseball program will attempt to recapture the postseason magic as it prepares to host conference tournament action Thursday through Saturday. The second-seeded Bulldogs will be joined in Seward by No. 3 Morningside, No. 6 Midland and No. 7 Northwestern. One of those teams will emerge from the Concordia Bracket and advance to the GPAC tournament championship game set for Tuesday, May 9. This will mark the fifth time since the 2017 season that Concordia has hosted GPAC tournament play. The Bulldogs have won their own bracket in each of the previous four instances.
2023 GPAC Tournament – Concordia Bracket
--Full Bracket
May 4-6 | Plum Creek Park (Seward, Neb.)
--Live Webcasts/Stats (available for all games with a cost of $8.95/day)
Thursday, May 4
Game 1 – (3) Morningside vs. (6) Midland, 12 p.m.
Game 2 – (2) Concordia vs. (7) Northwestern, 3 p.m.
Friday, May 5
Game 3 – Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner, 12 p.m.
Game 4 – Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser, 3 p.m.
Game 5 – Game 4 Winner vs. Game 3 Loser, 6 p.m.
Saturday, May 6
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)
Admission: Admission is $10 for adults/senior citizens and $3 for K-12. Only those with NAIA passes and GPAC student ID’s will be admitted free of charge.
By the numbers
· The Concordia Baseball program has placed either first or second in the GPAC in each of the past four completed regular seasons (COVID-19 wiped out most of the 2020 campaign). Since the start of 2017, Dupic has guided the Bulldogs to GPAC regular season finishes of first, tied for sixth, first, tied for first, second and second, respectively. During that same stretch, Concordia has hit the 30-win mark five times with a high (and school record) of 42 in 2021. With a run in the postseason, the Bulldogs could reach 40 victories for the third season in a row. Currently ranked No. 24 in the NAIA, Concordia has generated votes in the NAIA coaches’ polls in six years running (program high of No. 12 in 2021).
· In order to earn the right to host GPAC tournament pod play this week, the Bulldogs needed to at least split the series with Morningside (34-14, 20-8 GPAC) in closing the regular season. Concordia did enough to accomplish that aim despite a bout of shaky defensive play. The Bulldogs won games one and three, 8-1 and 11-4, and dropped games two and four, 9-4 and 7-5. Offensively, catcher Ben Berg gave the Bulldogs a lift by batting .643 (9-for-14) with three doubles, a home run, eight RBIs and a 1.071 slugging percentage in the series. Mustang pitchers managed to limit Concordia to two home runs, but the Bulldogs found a way to score a combined 28 runs on 37 hits and 10 walks. Joey Grabanski also delivered a homer in the first game of the series and Alec Blakestad recorded three doubles in game three.
· The top starting pitching performance of the past weekend was put forth by Caden Johnson, who covered six innings and allowed one run on four hits and one walk while striking out six. The junior from Papillon, Neb., has been the team’s most consistent starter having gone 8-3 with a 3.51 ERA over his 11 starts (48.2 innings). Others who logged at least three innings this past weekend were Blake Benson (4.2 IP), Frankie Cresta (3.2 IP), Christian Gutierrez (3.1 IP) and Qwin Zabokrtsky (3.1 IP). Benson and Cresta both pitched solidly out of the bullpen. Benson picked up the win in game three of the series. Of the 21 runs surrendered to Morningside, nine of them were unearned.
· The slugging left fielder Joey Grabanski broke one of his own records last week while notching his 68th and 69th RBIs of the 2023 season. Grabanski had set a program single season standard for RBIs with 67 in 2022. Currently, Grabanski also owns program home run records for a season (24) and career (59). First baseman Jesse Garcia keeps adding to his school career records for games played (231), hits (259), doubles (58), RBIs (211) and walks (114). His 54 home runs are second only to Grabanski on the all-time list. There are five players on the active roster with 150-plus career hits: Garcia (259), Jay Adams (249), Grabanski (219), Ben Berg (181) and Teyt Johnson (150).
· The season Berg has enjoyed at catcher has been nothing short of phenomenal. Starting with his defensive play, Berg has thrown out 32.1 percent of would-be base stealers (9-for-28) and has successfully handled all 313 chances (283 putouts, 30 assists) in the field. Offensively, Berg owns career highs across the board: batting average (.413), on-base percentage (.494), slugging percentage (.677), home runs (nine), RBIs (49) and total bases (105). One more homer would make him the sixth Bulldog this season to reach double digits, joining Grabanski (24), Jaidan Quinn (22), Garcia (16), Blakestad (12) and Adams (11). Berg has totaled 26 home runs and 147 RBIs in 178 career collegiate games.
· Heading into the postseason, Concordia leads the GPAC in essentially every single offensive category, including runs scored (516), hits (574), doubles (115), home runs (105), walks (219), stolen bases (87), on-base percentage (.449) and slugging percentage (.637). Individual GPAC leaders for the Bulldogs include Ty Nekoliczak in batting average (.424) and hits (70), Joey Grabanski in runs (64), home runs (24), RBIs (69), slugging percentage (.862) and walks (34), Jay Adams in doubles (18), Jaidan Quinn in runs (64) and on-base percentage (.507) and Zackery Day in stolen bases (35). The team total for runs scored has equaled the program record set last season. A postseason run could also put the 2022 standard of 113 home runs in jeopardy.
· Discounting the 2020 COVID-19 shortened season, Concordia has reached the GPAC tournament championship game in four of the past five seasons (2017, 2019, 2021 and 2022) with postseason titles coming in 2021 and 2022. During Dupic’s tenure (2015 season to the present), Concordia has been the GPAC’s premier program. Consider that in that stretch, the Bulldogs lead all GPAC baseball programs in overall wins (277), GPAC regular season wins (138), overall winning percentage (.634), conference winning percentage (.663) and total GPAC championships (five). In addition to the 2020 and 2021 conference tournament titles, Concordia seized GPAC regular season crowns in 2017, 2019 and 2021. Prior to Dupic’s arrival, the program had not won a conference championship since 1986. In 2015, the program ended a drought without a winning overall record that had lasted since 1979.
Concordia Bracket opponents
(3) Morningside (34-14, 20-8 GPAC | NAIA Bo Chip: 16) – It will be right back to Seward, where Morningside finished the regular season. The Mustangs have put together a season profile that should put them under serious NAIA national tournament at-large consideration – or they can make it easy by earning the GPAC’s second automatic bid. Head Coach Adam Boeve’s squad has been impressive offensively with a team batting average of .337, an on-base percentage of .415 and a slugging percentage of .491. Morningside split four-game series with the GPAC’s top two seeds, Doane and Concordia. The team’s top player has been catcher Jayson Willers, who is hitting .379 with 15 doubles, 10 home runs and 54 RBIs. The Bulldogs saw Mustang ace pitcher Wade Canaday this past weekend. Canaday is 7-3 with a 4.18 ERA and 63 strikeouts in 64.2 innings. Morningside will also roll out the likes of Aiden Bishop, Cade Nolan and Kai Purdy-Burton in its rotation. The Mustangs last won a GPAC tournament title in 2016.
(6) Midland (21-26, 12-16 GPAC | NAIA Bo Chip: 111) – Midland roared to an 8-4 start in GPAC play before hitting a tough stretch in the conference slate. The Warriors were swept by top seeds Concordia (four games) and Doane (two games) near the end of the regular season. Head Coach Chad Miller is in his ninth season leading a program that he guided to a GPAC regular season title in 2016 and to a GPAC tournament championship in 2017. To its credit, Midland earned a win at Morningside on April 14. The player to watch out for in the Warrior lineup is Hadyn Crawford, who is hitting .377 with 13 doubles, 10 home runs and 39 RBIs. The offense has been solid in averaging 6.6 runs per game, however, the pitching staff has endured its share of struggles. Midland’s team ERA of 8.07 ranks 10th in the GPAC. The Warriors have started Owen Kelley (3-3, 6.59 ERA) most frequently on the mound.
(7) Northwestern (19-29, 12-16 GPAC | NAIA Bo Chip: 125) – Northwestern is set to make the trip to Seward for a second GPAC tournament in a row. The Red Raiders managed to upset the Bulldogs a year ago in this same setup (No. 2 vs. No. 7). Concordia eventually made its way back in the bracket and knocked out Northwestern in walk-off fashion. During the 2023 regular season, the Red Raiders split a four-game series with the Bulldogs (though Concordia had a 31-13 advantage in runs scored). Under Head Coach Brian Wede, Northwestern swept GPAC regular season and postseason titles as recently as 2018. The current lineup is led by the likes of Kip Cullinan, Mason Porepp and Noa Vogel. As a team, the Red Raiders are batting .275 while scoring 5.0 runs per game. The starting pitcher who’s had the most success is Dylan Kirkeby, who is 4-3 with a 2.72 ERA and 11.72 strikeouts per nine innings. Northwestern sports a team ERA of 6.45.
GPAC Championship Game
The winners that emerge from the Concordia and Doane Brackets will meet in a winner-take-all GPAC championship game on Tuesday, May 9 (time TBA). The highest remaining seed will host the title game. The tournament champion earns an automatic bid to the national tournament. As the regular season champion, Doane has locked up one of the league’s two automatic bids to nationals. If Doane happens to win the postseason title as well, the second bid would go to the Bulldogs as the regular season runner up.