AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The Concordia University Baseball team’s bats were as warm as the weather in Auburndale, Fla., where the high temperature hovered in the mid-80s on Saturday (March 5). The 18th-ranked Bulldogs punished the pitching staff of Cornerstone University (Mich.) in a doubleheader sweep won by scores of 15-9 and 14-2. Joey Grabanski collected five hits on the day and game two starting pitcher Caden Bugarske fired a complete game gem.
These were the first two out of 10 games that Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad is scheduled to play in The Sunshine State. Concordia has moved to 7-2-1 overall after its latest display of offensive fireworks.
“I thought the guys were really patient offensively,” Dupic said. “Their pitchers were struggling to find the zone a bit. We did a really good job of not expanding the strike zone and making them come to us. That played out over time and we were able to get to a lot of their bullpen. We strung a lot of hits together and guys swung it well and hit the ball hard.”
In 13 innings at the plate on Saturday, the Bulldogs scored at least three runs in six of those frames as the merry-go-round got spinning. Five Concordia players recorded at least two hits in game one and another seven Bulldogs notched two or more hits in game two. In game one, Grabanski, Jakob Faulk and Tanner Tompkins (four RBIs) each collected three hits. Jayden Adams homered in the opener and then catcher Michael Welch went deep in game two for his first career homer.
For the day, Bulldog hitters produced a slash line of .492/.571/.762 (AVG/OBP/SLG) while racking up 31 hits and 14 walks. While Grabanski led the way with five hits (including a double), Adams went 4-for-7. Meanwhile, Alec Blakestad and Jesse Garcia both went 3-for-6 and Keaton Candor went 3-for-7 on the day. Blakestad doubled, tripled and drove in four runs.
Concordia’s pitching staff allowed nine runs on nine hits and eight walks in game one. Bugarske then settled things down in game two. The native of Boerne, Texas, covered all seven innings and did not allow an earned run while giving up just three hits and one walk. He recorded seven strikeouts and effectively bounced back from a loss last week at Tabor College (Kan.).
Said Dupic, “He was awesome. He was really aggressive tonight and had his pitches working. He was able to be effective with his fastball and really threw the baseball well. It was good to see him get back on track. I think he learned a lot from his last outing and did a really nice job.”
Four pitchers were used in the opener: Alex Johnson, Jacob Lycan, Shane Whittaker and Darrell Kundinger. Whittaker threw 1.1 innings and was credited with the win. On the other side, the Golden Eagles slipped to 5-7 overall. Austin Hurt led Cornerstone in game one with a 2-for-4 performance that included a home run, three runs and three RBIs.
The Bulldogs will be back in action on Sunday at the same venue in Auburndale. Concordia and Indiana University South Bend will begin a doubleheader at 2:30 p.m. CT / 3:30 p.m. ET. The Titans were 2-8 overall entering the weekend. The Bulldogs will have then have Monday off before playing again on Tuesday in Florida.