SEWARD, Neb. – There is only one road trip remaining in the 2025 regular season. The 17th-ranked Concordia University, Nebraska Baseball team will make its way to Yankton, S.D., for a four-game weekend series with Mount Marty. The Lancers will attempt to halt the Bulldogs’ win streak, which has reached 11 after doubleheader sweeps of Morningside and Hastings. With 12 games to go in the regular season, Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad has put itself in the driver’s seat in the race for the GPAC championship race. Concordia stands at 14-2 in league play (26-8 overall).
This Weekend
Saturday, April 12 at Mount Marty (19-13, 8-8 GPAC), 1 p.m. DH
--Live Webcast | Live Stats | Location: Tereshinski Stadium (Yankton, S.D.)
Sunday, April 13 at Mount Marty (19-13, 8-8 GPAC), 1 p.m. DH
--Live Webcast | Live Stats | Location: Tereshinski Stadium (Yankton, S.D.)
By the numbers
· The past week resulted in the Bulldogs gaining some breathing room at the top of the GPAC standings. Not only did Concordia take care of its business in taking two from both Morningside and Hastings, Doane swept a doubleheader from Morningside and Dakota Wesleyan dropped three of four to Mount Marty. The top four teams in the current GPAC standings are Concordia (14-2), Dakota Wesleyan (10-6), Northwestern (10-6) and Morningside (9-7). A perennial GPAC power alongside the Bulldogs the past several years, Doane fell out of the GPAC regular season title race when it lost seven-straight conference games. Based on the NAIA Bo Chip ratings released on Monday, the league’s top teams are No. 8 Concordia, No. 46 Doane, No. 64 Morningside, No. 71 Mount Marty and No. 84 Northwestern. According to Bo Chip, the Bulldogs have played the NAIA’s 23rd toughest schedule.
· The past four games were more about pitching and defense than slugging the ball out of the park. Concordia defeated Morningside by scores of 4-2 and 6-5 in Sioux City, Iowa, on April 6 before returning home to knock off Hastings by scores of 4-1 and 3-1 on a chilly Monday from Plum Creek Park. A major highlight of that stretch was the Bulldogs’ comeback win in game two versus Morningside. Concordia trailed 5-4 with two outs and two strikes on Matt Rhoades in the top of the ninth. Rhoades emerged as the hero as he tucked the ball inside the left field line for a double that scored the tying and go-ahead runs. Over the past four games, the pitching staff held the opposition to just nine runs (2.40 ERA) on 19 hits and 12 walks with 37 strikeouts. Rhodes had the most success at the plate as he went 5-for-11 (.455) with a double, two home runs and six RBIs over the six-game stretch.
· Many of the Bulldogs’ veteran players are chasing down all-time program records. In his start on Monday, senior Christian Gutierrez fired a seven-inning complete game with one run allowed on four hits and a walk to go along with eight strikeouts. With that effort, Gutierrez surpassed Nick Little for the most innings pitched ever by a Bulldog with 259.1 for his career. Gutierrez also equaled Little for the most career wins in school history with 27. Meanwhile, in the same doubleheader versus Hastings, junior Zackery Day rose to the top of the program’s all-time steals list. He swiped his 68th, 69th and 70th career stolen bases, eclipsing the former school record of 69 by Jerry Dittenber. Meanwhile, Jaidan Quinn remains at 88 career home runs (tied with Joey Grabanski for the program record).
· Quinn and Ty Nekoliczak keep climbing the program’s all-time hits list. Nekoliczak has moved to No. 4 with 235 hits while Quinn is tied for fifth with 234 hits. The top five all-time are listed below. Jay Adams set a record that may never be broken in racking up 352 hits in his acclaimed career. In other key categories, Quinn ranks second in RBIs (249) and second in runs scored (248). Adams is the record holder in runs (286) and Grabanski holds the standard in RBIs (300).
o Jayden Adams – 352
o Joey Grabanski – 309
o Jesse Garcia – 270
o Ty Nekoliczak – 235
o Jaidan Quinn / Zak Goodrich – 234
· The Bulldogs got solid outings from each of their starting pitchers over the past couple of days. The established group of starters includes Alex Johnson (5-2, 1.83 ERA, 14.42 K/9), Braxton Greenburg (3-0, 3.98 ERA, 11.30 K/9), Christian Gutierrez (6-2, 3.86 ERA, 8.06 K/9) and Micah Sweeton (5-1, 4.88 ERA, 10.91 K/9). The improvement in the pitching staff as a whole has made Concordia a dangerous team from a national perspective. Among GPAC squads, the Bulldogs rank first in ERA (4.72), first in strikeouts per nine innings (10.45) and first in WHIP (1.37). Johnson is a candidate for GPAC Pitcher of the Year accolades.
· Out of the bullpen, junior Daiten Schmidt continues to star. He’s allowed just one run in 11 appearances (11.1 innings) and has piled up seven saves. Schmidt saved both ends of the doubleheader at Morningside and then picked up another save in the doubleheader versus Hastings. Schmidt’s seven saves are tied for the fourth highest total in a single season in program history (record is 11). In addition, Alex Griess emerged this past weekend with a win in relief.
· The conditions the past four games were not necessarily conducive to offensive fireworks, but Rhoades homered twice and Brad Hallock and Jaeden Jordahl added a blast apiece over that stretch. Concordia continues to boast the league’s most powerful offense. The GPAC’s top three home run hitters are Bulldogs: Quinn (15), Hallock (14) and Rhoades (11). Those same three hitters are also the GPAC’s top three RBI leaders. As a team, the Bulldogs lead the GPAC in runs scored (281), home runs (63) and slugging percentage (.555).
The opponents
Mount Marty has been a regular top half of the GPAC program in recent years. The Lancers finished 2024 at 29-23 overall (14-14 GPAC) and currently stand at 19-13 (8-8 GPAC) this 2025 season. Josh Teichroew is in his third season as head coach after taking over from longtime coach Andy Bernatow (now the school’s Athletic Director). Mount Marty was pegged fifth in the GPAC preseason coaches’ poll. The Lancers returned First Team All-GPAC catcher Shugo Kondo. Four regulars in the lineup are hitting .350 or better: Aidan Chang (.386), Ryan Bachman (.376), Daniel Vonnegut (.373) and Will Gardner (.350). A strong offensive team, Mount Marty is slashing .312 / .414 / .460 (BA / OBP / SLG) as a team. At the top of the pitching rotation, Palmer Jacobs (5-2, 2.68 ERA) and Slayder Watterson (4-3, 2.88 ERA) have been sharp while Zach Hegge (3.04 ERA in 14 appearances) is the team’s most trusted reliever. The Bulldogs won all three of last season's matchups with the Lancers, including a 10-9, 11-inning game in the GPAC tournament.
Next week
Easter weekend will be loaded with home games as the Bulldogs look forward to hosting Dordt for four games over two days (April 18-19). The program will honor its senior class between games on April 19.