YORK, Neb. – This matchup between the Concordia University baseball team and York College looked a lot like the one that took place six days earlier on a cold night in Seward. This time around, the two sides used a combined 11 pitchers in a game that showcased the depth of the Bulldog roster. The host Panthers jumped out to a big lead and held off Concordia, 10-6, in action at Levitt Stadium in York.
The bigger focus for fifth-year head coach Ryan Dupic’s squad is on upcoming conference play as it continues to hunt down the program’s second GPAC title in three years. Said Dupic, “It was a good day to get a lot of guys at bats and innings.” The Bulldogs are now 24-14 overall.
Senior Johnny May took advantage of the opportunity to start in center field and ripped an RBI double in the third and then a two-run homer in the sixth. May, Teyt Johnson, Carson Lindell and Peyton Scott each recorded two hits to lead the offensive attack. Johnson equaled May with three RBIs of his own. Lindell and May scored two runs apiece.
Their offensive output wasn’t quite enough to dig Concordia out of a 10-2 hole that it faced after four innings. Dupic called upon five different pitchers: Clayton Holcomb, Shane Whittaker, Dresden Wilson, Thomas Otte and Adrian Cotton. Bulldog pitching was tagged for three home runs that accounted for seven York runs. Wilson, Otte and Cotton combined to throw four scoreless innings after the damage had been done.
Concordia position player regulars who sat on Tuesday included Keaton Candor, Wade Council, Jesse Garcia, Christian Meza and Logan Ryan.
The Panthers moved to 23-15 overall. Their home runs were delivered by Jake Sola, Luke Jackson and Ethan Lanz. Head coach Brian Walth’s squad reached the opening round of the national tournament in 2018.
Conference play will pick back up this Thursday and Friday with a four-game series at defending GPAC regular season and tournament champion Northwestern (16-19, 10-9 GPAC). First pitch from Orange City, Iowa, is set for 4 p.m. on Thursday and 1 p.m. on Friday. Concordia will enter the Easter weekend with a four-game lead atop the GPAC standings.