SEWARD, Neb. – On the heels of breaking the NAIA’s all-time home run record, Joey Grabanski was honored appropriately on Tuesday (April 16) by the GPAC. The conference has named Grabanski the GPAC/Hauff Mid-America Sports Player of the Week. The Grand Forks, N.D., native has earned this distinction for the first time in 2024 and for the fourth time in his career. Concordia University Baseball has collected four GPAC Player of the Week awards this season (three from Jaidan Quinn).
In this past weekend’s four-game series at Morningside, Grabanski batted .333 (5-for-15) with a double, three home runs and nine RBIs. Grabanski’s second homer of game one of the series marked the 78th of his career and made him the all-time NAIA home run record holder. The previous record stood at 77 by Brice Cutspec (2007-10) of Azusa Pacific University (Calif.). On the season, Grabanski is hitting .362 with a .475 on-base percentage and .780 slugging percentage. He’s totaled 39 runs, eight doubles, 17 home runs and 57 RBIs.
In addition to his 79 career home runs, Grabanski has piled up 207 runs, 281 hits, 48 doubles, 269 RBIs, 566 total bases and 123 walks in 211 career collegiate games. Grabanski is a career .375 hitter with a .755 slugging percentage.
The 15th-ranked Bulldogs (29-12, 13-7 GPAC) will resume play on Friday with a doubleheader at Jamestown. Concordia will also host Hastings on Sunday.