On paper, the 2026 season appeared to be a bit of a rebuilding season as the calendar reached January. That’s not to say that expectations weren’t high for a program coming off five straight 40-win campaigns. But the program was about to undergo a facelift of sorts between the ’25 and ’26 seasons. Of the top six hitters listed in the order on the final lineup card in ’25, five were moving on. The program also graduated two particularly important starting pitchers.
Through the fall and early winter months, Head Coach Ryan Dupic and his staff began to put the pieces together for what proved to be yet another national qualifying team. They did so with just one offseason to replace the likes of Braxton Greenburg, Christian Gutierrez, Brad Hallock, Ty Nekoliczak, Jaidan Quinn and Matt Rhoades. The Concordia University, Nebraska Baseball team had experienced the most significant talent drain among GPAC programs.
Dupic is not one for excuses. Following the program’s eighth NAIA Opening Round appearance, Dupic remarked, “I was pleased with this group. Losing as many guys as we did a year ago – winning 42 games (in 2025) – and then coming back and winning 38 is pretty darn good. It was a solid season for our team. We’re hoping we can use that to continue to build and get better … We’ve been blessed to make it to a few opening rounds. You kind of learn the dynamic of it. I think your draw and who you get is a big deal. We were very competitive with all the teams there, but we fell just a little bit short in a couple of those games.”
Not only did the Bulldogs reload from a personnel standpoint, but they also overcame challenges out of their control. Concordia played only four games at Plum Creek Park all spring while also shuttling to Lincoln for home games at both Sherman Field and Sandhills Global Complex. The journey got its start in Oklahoma City and made stops in Missouri, Kansas and Florida prior to the start of league play. The Bulldogs enjoyed a stretch where they won 10 of 11 games against conference foes and competed intensely with rival Doane (a World Series qualifier) for GPAC regular season and tournament championships. A milestone also came at the GPAC tournament when Dupic reached 400 career wins.
Ultimately, Concordia finished its run at 38-18 overall after it went 1-2 in the NAIA Opening Round Salina Bracket hosted by Kansas Wesleyan University. GPAC runners up in the regular season and postseason, the Bulldogs reached such heights with the help of breakout seasons from the likes of position players in outfielder Bronx Lewis and catcher Jake Watson (new school record holder for putouts in a season). They were two of the team’s five First Team All-GPAC selections along with GPAC Pitcher of the Year Alex Johnson, reliever Warren Rose and outfielder Luke Wilson.
A back-to-back GPAC Pitcher of the Year award winner, Johnson headed a power-armed staff that led the NAIA (by a wide margin) in strikeouts per nine innings at a clip of 11.96. Johnson won all seven of his starts in league play and became the program’s all-time strikeout leader (320 K’s by career’s end). Johnson was followed in the rotation by Caden Bugarske (5-3, 3.74 ERA, 10.87 K/9), Micah Sweeton (5-3, 2.74 ERA, 15.26 K/9), Sam Bespoyasny (5-1, 3.19 ERA, 7.88 K/9) and Devin Gonor (4-1, 5.11 ERA, 10.02 K/9). Out of the bullpen, Concordia got fine work from Rose (2.22 ERA), DJ Andersen (3.42 ERA), Harrison Hoiekvam (4.34 ERA), Trent Schlim (4.18 ERA) and others.
At the national tournament, the staff limited the potent Kansas Wesleyan offense to a combined 10 runs in 20 innings. Said Dupic, “I thought we pitched really, really well. Kansas Wesleyan is a top five offensive team in the country. I think we pitched 20 or 21 innings against them. That’s a big challenge. Micah Sweeton was great, Bespoyasny was really good, DJ Andersen was really good, (Alex) Griess did a nice job and Alex threw the ball really well. We could have been a little bit better defensively at times, but I thought we pitched really well.”
In year two as a Bulldog, after transferring in from Kirkwood Community College, Lewis transformed into a star. His 25 home runs ranked No. 2 on the national leaderboard. He slashed an impressive .342/.496/.826 and was so good in the GPAC tournament that Doane intentionally walked him four straight times in the conference title game. Other top performers in the lineup included Watson (.349/.441/.609) and Wilson (.329/.420/.587) in addition to first baseman Carson Burnett (.293/.448/.482), DH Andrew Fetty (.257/.409/.439) and second baseman Jaeden Jordahl (.311/.490/.489). On the left side of the infield, shortstop Jake Tyler and third baseman Jimmy Blumberg provided steady play. Alex Draper and Layton Rivas also saw extensive time in the outfield, Cade Vanis contributed as a pinch hitter, Jack Hirchert produced a memorable pinch-hit grand slam to beat Doane and Zackery Day (107 career steals) continued to wreak havoc on the bases.
The Concordia offense averaged 7.38 runs per game while slashing .287/.418/.507 with 85 home runs. The offensive production remained at a high level under the direction of Assistant Head Coach Ben Berg. For the fourth straight year, at least one Bulldog mashed more than 20 home runs. The program emphasis on plate discipline and driving the baseball is well established.
“We were hopeful but uncertain through December and January,” said Dupic of the makeup of the 2026 team. “We had people who we thought were capable, but it was such a new team that we were not totally certain of what that was going to look like. We started a little faster than we probably thought we would. In hindsight, we had some really good pitching at times. When you have that, it’s going to keep you in a lot of games. Then when we scored and defended, we were really good. When we didn’t, we were still pretty good. We were in most all of our games this year for the most part, which you usually have a few that get away from you.”
Down the stretch of the season, Concordia knew it could compete with anyone when Johnson and Sweeton were at the top of their games on the hill. Both righty hurlers recorded 11 strikeouts in their starts in the NAIA Opening Round. The Olathe, Kan., native Johnson has used up his eligibility and will leave as one of the most accomplished pitchers in school history.
Following the season, Johnson reflected on a college career that traces back to the Bulldogs’ NAIA World Series appearance of 2021. Said Johnson, “I’m just so grateful. I’m praising God for the opportunity and the community that He brought in Seward. I couldn’t be more thankful for Coach Dupic and for him to continue to believe in me and to continue to encourage me through the ups and downs. Of course, I’m thankful for my family. My wife has been a big foundation in that too. There are just so many people to thank. Ultimately, I’m thankful for God and His faithfulness.”
Johnson took part in senior day festivities during the 2025 season. This past April, the program honored 12 seniors. Many of them played key on-field roles during their careers. On the plus side, the pitching staff appears to be well-stocked heading into next year. After some time to recharge the batteries, Dupic and company will shift focus towards 2026-27 in what will be the 13th season of Dupic’s tenure. The plan will be to extend the program’s string of national tournament appearances (with emphasis on the process).
Said Dupic of the offseason, “I think this time of year is about solidifying your roster for next year and getting some of the current players off to summer baseball or other training opportunities and helping them to continue to advance themselves career-wise and academically. There’s a lot of transition stuff when you think about the long-term vision and what you want things to look like next spring. Then you just try to match individual players to some of that. There’s a little bit of recruiting for the short term and a little bit of recruiting for the long term. We’re also trying to help the guys continue to get better for next spring.”