VIDEO: Fetty HR | Lewis HR | Blumberg HR
SEWARD, Neb. – It took the contributions of many Bulldogs for the 18th-ranked Concordia University, Nebraska Baseball team to emerge with a series win over visiting Mount Marty. In Saturday (March 14) action at Plum Creek Park, the Bulldogs ran away with game one, 9-2, before rallying late to take game two, 7-3. Seven Concordia pitchers helped hold the Lancers in check, and Andrew Fetty, Bronx Lewis and Jimmy Blumberg belted a home run apiece on the day.
Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad took three of four from the Lancers in the weekend series to move to 15-9 overall (3-1 GPAC). The two sides split Friday’s doubleheader that was played in Lincoln.
“Grinding through it is a good way to put it, especially for the second game,” Dupic said. “I was pleased with the first one. I thought that went well. Brody Smearer did a nice job in his start, and Trent Schlim did a good job. We got some good swings offensively. The second one was more of a battle. Sometimes you just have to play clean enough to keep yourself in the game. We threw enough strikes and made enough plays and managed to land a couple big blows at the end.”
The afternoon began superbly for the home team thanks to a scoreless first frame fired by Smearer followed by a two-run homer to left center launched by Andrew Fetty in the bottom half. Concordia proceeded to score the first eight runs of the ballgame, piling on thanks to the work of Jaeden Jordahl (two-run double), Jake Watson (RBI single), Carson Burnett (two-run double) and Blumberg (RBI single). Jordahl went 3-for-3 while Burnett and Fetty produced two hits apiece in Saturday’s game one.
Smearer (3.1 IP) and Trent Schlim (2.2 IP) continually Houdini’ed their way out of jams. Mount Marty left the bags full in the fourth and stranded runners at second/third in the fifth while finishing with 10 men left on base. Smearer did not allow a single run despite surrendering four hits. Schlim entered in the fourth and picked up his second win this season. Daiten Schmidt then threw the seventh.
It was a fine day out of the No. 7 spot in the lineup for Lewis, who homered, doubled and drove in three runs in the series finale. Lewis broke a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the sixth with a clutch RBI double to score Burnett. One batter later, Blumberg pulverized a two-run shot to left. Alex Draper also added an RBI single on a bunt to extend the cushion.
The Bulldogs mustered only three hits through the first six innings of the series finale, but they found creative ways to put runs on the board. Scrapping and clawing is part of the MO for this team.
Said Lewis of the progression of the 2026 Bulldogs, “It’s been really good. We’ve been getting really close as a team. We’re finding ways to pass the stick on to the next guy. It’s been really big getting everyone working together, especially the guys off the bench … It took a while to get us going. We don’t have the 15-0 or 20-0 games we had last year with all the home runs. We have to have a grittier team this year. The closer we get and the better we play as a team, we’re going to win more.”
Both teams went errorfree in Saturday’s second game. The defensive work gave a boost to four Concordia pitchers: Caden Bugarske (5 IP, 2 ER), Harrison Hoiekvam (0.1 IP, 1 ER), Warren Rose (2.2 IP, 0 ER) and DJ Andersen (1.0 IP, 0 ER). Rose earned the win with stellar work in the contest’s latter stages. The collaboration between the pitching staff and catcher Jake Watson combined to control one of the nation’s leading base stealing teams in Mount Marty. The Lancers went just 4-for-8 on stolen base attempts for the series. Rose also picked off a runner.
Said Dupic of Mount Marty, “They’re very athletic. They run really well. They’ve had some huge offensive games this season. I was pleased with the way we were able to prevent runs. A key for us this year is for us to do a good job of that.”
The Lancers (10-14, 1-3 GPAC) got a solid start in the series finale from Palmer Jacobs, who conceded only one run in his five innings (five strikeouts). Drew Ryken drove in all three Mount Marty runs in the day’s second contest.
The conference slate will continue late next week as the Bulldogs gear up to host No. 21 Doane (16-5, 3-1 GPAC) for a four-game series. The first two will be played at Sherman Field in Lincoln, Neb., with first pitch at 1 p.m. CT on Friday, March 20. The series will resume at Plum Creek Park on March 22. The Tigers opened conference play at home by taking three of four from Waldorf.