Six GPAC road games await Bulldogs this week

By Jacob Knabel on Mar. 27, 2023 in Baseball

SEWARD, Neb. – The schedule’s been hit-or-miss so far in conference play, in terms of weather allowing games to be played as they were originally set. On the heels of a 3-1 start to league play, Concordia University Baseball hopes to play six times on the road this week. The Bulldogs are slated to make up a doubleheader at Hastings on Tuesday before heading to Orange City, Iowa, site of a four-game weekend series at Northwestern. Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad made its home debut on March 20 and earned a doubleheader sweep of Jamestown. This past Saturday, Concordia split with Mount Marty and now stands at 17-9 overall (3-1 GPAC).

This Week

Tuesday, March 28 vs. Hastings (8-16, 2-2 GPAC), 2 p.m. DH
--Live Webcast/Stats | Location: Plum Creek Park (Seward, Neb.)

Thursday, March 30 at Northwestern (11-15, 5-3 GPAC), 1:30 p.m. DH
--Live Webcast | Live Stats | Location: NWC Baseball Diamond (Orange City, Iowa)

Monday, April 3 at Northwestern (11-15, 5-3 GPAC), 1 p.m. DH
--Live Webcast | Live Stats | Location: NWC Baseball Diamond (Orange City, Iowa)

By the numbers

·        Entering the week, the Bulldogs have played a total of four games since returning from their spring break trip to Florida (which ended on March 11). Three wins over nationally ranked St. Thomas University (Fla.) during that trip helped Concordia get back on the national radar. In the NAIA coaches’ poll released on March 22, the Bulldogs were listed among teams currently receiving votes. In other NAIA national ratings, Concordia is listed at No. 28 in Bo Chip and at No. 22 in Massey Ratings. According to Massey Ratings, the Bulldogs have played the nation’s 27th most challenging schedule.

·        Despite getting a leadoff homer from Jaidan Quinn, Concordia let game one against Mount Marty get away from it. The Lancers (24-5, 7-1 GPAC) built a 9-1 lead at the end of five innings while tagging Bulldog starter Blake Benson for eight earned runs on 12 hits. The second game was a complete turnaround as Concordia enjoyed a 12-2 lead behind pitcher Frankie Cresta. At the plate, Ben Berg went 5-for-5 with a home run and Teyt Johnson went 4-for-4 with three runs, a home and four RBIs. Five days after striking out 13 Jamestown hitters in a seven-inning shutout, Cresta covered eight innings and limited Mount Marty to two runs on eight hits and three walks (five strikeouts). The Bulldogs wound up with 18 hits in game two.

·        Joey Grabanski also went deep as part of the game two win at Mount Marty. The homer marked the 14th of the season and 49th in the career of the Grand Forks, N.D., native. Grabanski currently ranks fourth among all NAIA players in home runs this season (the national leader, Cole Turney, has 20). Early last week, Grabanski became Concordia’s all-time home run leader, surpassing the previous record of 47 by former teammate Keaton Candor. Current Bulldog Jesse Garcia is also lurking close behind with 46 career blasts. With 226 career hits, Garcia is also not far off the program’s all-time record of 234 hits (Zak Goodrich).

·        Garcia, Berg and Teyt Johnson are each in their fifth years inside the program. While Garcia stands out as one of the greatest sluggers in school history, the contributions of Berg and Johnson should also be celebrated. One of three Bergs to have played at Concordia (in addition to eldest brother Bryce having been an assistant coach), Ben has been a mainstay at the catcher position. In his career (154 games), Ben Berg has batted .292 with 142 hits, 26 doubles, 19 home runs and 115 RBIs. Meanwhile, Johnson has played in 166 games and has batted .293 with 23 doubles, two triples, 16 home runs and 98 RBIs. They have been part of GPAC championship teams every single season (with the exception of the 2020 COVID year).

·        A native of Johnston, Iowa, and a transfer from Tennessee Tech, Cresta appears to be settling in. Over his two starts in GPAC play, Cresta has fired 15 innings and has gone 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA and 18 strikeouts. Cresta followed in a line of other recent Bulldogs who hailed from Johnston, such as Nathan Buckallew, Johnny May and Logan Ryan. As a pitching staff, the best figures to be yet to come. Concordia has other experienced arms in Bensen (another transfer), Caden Bugarske, Christian Gutierrez and Caden Johnson that it can trot out in its starting rotation. Dupic also is hopeful of getting Alex Johnson back from injury at some point this spring.

·        The Bulldogs figure to again have the most potent offensive team in the GPAC. Among conference teams, they rank first in batting average (.340), runs scored (238), hits (279), home runs (47) and slugging percentage (.578) while ranking No. 2 in on-base percentage (.420). The top four individual home run hitters are each from Concordia: Grabanski (14), Quinn (nine), Garcia (eight) and Jay Adams (six). Grabanski easily leads the league in RBIs (14). Though not a power hitter, Ty Nekoliczak ranks No. 4 in the GPAC in batting average (.398).

·        Entering Tuesday’s doubleheader, the Bulldogs have won seven-straight series meetings over Hastings. The Broncos have not defeated Concordia since the 2018 season. On the other hand, the action has been much more competitive with Northwestern. The Bulldogs and Red Raiders faced each other seven times last season with Concordia winning five of those games. They faced off three times in the GPAC tournament – the last matchup was for a spot in the GPAC championship game. The Bulldogs won, 5-4, on a Jay Adams walk-off RBI single.

The opponents

Hastings is attempting to rebuild the program under the direction of Head Coach Joel Schipper, who is in his second season leading the Broncos. There have been signs of improvement for Hastings, which struggled to a 7-37 overall record (3-25 GPAC) in 2022. The Broncos swept a doubleheader at Dordt last Monday and have already put eight wins on the board. The strength of the team appears to be the pitching duo of Markus Miller (2-0, 3.32 ERA) and James Velasquez (2-2, 1.86 ERA). Catcher Tyler Kissler has gotten out to a solid start and is hitting .328 with a .381 on-base percentage. Hastings has just two home runs as a team, but its home park (Duncan Field) is a spacious venue.

Northwestern has played nothing but close games to start conference play. Entering the week, the Red Raiders are 3-3 in the league with each of the six games having been decided by margins of either one or two runs. Northwestern has gone only 6-12 outside of conference play, but it did challenge itself by playing the likes of No. 1 Southeastern University (Fla.) and No. 5 Bellevue University while in Florida. Winner of more than 400 games at Northwestern, Head Coach Brian Wede has overseen a strong program that won the GPAC as recently as 2018 when it swept league regular season and postseason titles. The Red Raiders returned many of their key position players from last season, such as All-GPAC honorees in Kip Cullinan, Mason Porepp, Sam Stanford and Mo Watson. So far this season, Cullinan is hitting .365 with three homers and 18 RBIs.

Next week

Plum Creek Park will be buzzing Easter weekend as the Bulldogs will host Dordt for a four-game series on April 7-8. The doubleheaders are slated to get started at 4 p.m. CT on April 7 and at 1 p.m. on April 8.