SEWARD, Neb. – Center fielder Teyt Johnson enjoyed himself a monstrous day that included a double, two home runs and an absurd eight runs batted in. As a whole, the 20th-ranked Concordia University Baseball team pounded out 16 hits in a 13-6 GPAC postseason win over Hastings on Thursday (May 6). The top-seeded Bulldogs are in the midst of hosting three days of GPAC tournament pod play at Plum Creek Park in Seward, Neb.
This was mostly how Head Coach Ryan Dupic would have scripted this game. He got seven innings out of starting pitcher Nick Little and the offense was relentless. Concordia moved to 35-9 overall while breaking the program single-season record for wins.
“I was very pleased across the board,” Dupic said. “The thing that really stood out to me was just how much depth the lineup had and the type of production we got from 5-6-7-8-9. There just wasn’t much of a break today. Our guys really stayed with it and had good at bats one through nine … We just want to play as well as we possibly can play and I thought we did that today. We didn’t make any errors, scored 13 runs and our pitchers pounded the strike zone.”
With a bid to the opening round of the national tournament already in hand, the Bulldogs now take aim at attempting to win a GPAC tournament title for the first time in program history. A native of Indianola, Iowa, Johnson has cleaned up at home this season. His day included a two-run double in the third, an RBI single in the fourth, a three-run homer in the sixth and a two-run bomb in the eighth.
Plenty of others contributed heavily to the win. First baseman Ben Berg went 4-for-4 with three runs, two doubles and an RBI and Joey Grabanski (3-for-5 with a run, a double and an RBI) continued his hot hitting. Out of the No. 8 spot in the lineup, Jakob Faulk notched two hits, a run and an RBI. Additionally, Beau Dorman left the yard for his ninth homer of the season.
Little (7-1) seems to routinely get a lot of run support in his starts. The victory on Thursday marked the 26th of his career, making him the all-time pitching wins leader in Concordia history. Little pitched into the eighth inning and allowed six runs on nine hits while recording eight strikeouts. Shane Whittaker got the final six outs with four coming via the punch out.
Hastings (13-30) showed life at the plate as well. Tino Zach went 3-for-5 out of the middle of the order. Starting pitcher Josh Merithew (six earned runs allowed) was chased after 3.2 innings. The Broncos did make a threat in the sixth inning when they cut a 7-1 deficit to 7-5. Hastings’ season will be on the line on Friday when they take on Morningside in an elimination game.
The Bulldogs will go head-to-head with Briar Cliff (33-18) at 9 a.m. CT on Friday. The Chargers routed crosstown rival Morningside, 12-1, in the first game of the Concordia Bracket.
Said Dupic, “I just want to play really good baseball. I think that’s the key – to be trending in the right direction as we head into this final part of the season. The focus is to play as well as we can and see where that takes us.”