MITCHELL, S.D. – Heavy traffic on the basepaths made Sunday (April 19)’s doubleheader in Mitchell, S.D., a slog (656 total pitches thrown). Not until the seventh inning of the day did either team manage to record a 1-2-3 inning. Ultimately, the Concordia University, Nebraska Baseball team left satisfied with the results, claiming victories by scores of 11-7 and 12-6 from Drake Field. The Bulldogs pounded out 28 hits, including four that left the yard, and drew 15 walks for the day. They also got fine bullpen work from two arms in particular.
Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad earned two wins it had to have from the standpoint of keeping pace with conference frontrunners Morningside and Doane. Concordia sits at 19-5 in league play (31-14 overall).
“Our offense was fun to see,” Dupic said. “I like Dak Wes’s pitching staff. I think they have a lot of guys with good stuff. I thought our guys did a really nice job. It’s fun to win some games in that style. We got a lot of help from our bullpen. The longer games go, we feel like we have a shot to find somebody out of our bullpen with our depth there.”
The Bulldogs showed they had a bit more depth in what became a war of attrition. A combined 16 pitchers were used by the two sides on Sunday. Concordia managed to erase a 5-2 deficit in game one with a late onslaught that featured five runs in the fifth, two in the sixth and two in the seventh. Shortstop Jake Tyler put the Bulldogs up for good with a clutch two-run single in the sixth. For good measure, Alex Draper added a two-run double in the seventh. Draper finished with three hits (two doubles) and four RBIs in game one.
The visitors never trailed in game two after Luke Wilson homered in the top of the first. Jaeden Jordahl also struck for a two-run blast in the sixth and later added a two-run single in the ninth. Wilson topped off the scoring with a run-scoring base hit of his own in the ninth. The production was plenty enough to overcome two home runs from Dakota Wesleyan’s Jackson Jarding. Wilson (4-for-5), Jordahl (3-for-5) and Jake Watson (3-for-5) were Concordia’s offensive stars in game two.
While not the best day for the Bulldog pitching staff, Dupic did get fine work out of the bullpen to finish both ends of Sunday’s doubleheader. Dominant lefty Warren Rose fired 2.1 innings with all seven of his outs coming on strikeouts as he slammed the door on game one. Then in game two, Harrison Hoiekvam racked up nine strikeouts in 3.1 innings. The only baserunner he allowed was via a hit batter.
Said Dupic, “Warren Rose and Harrison Hoiekvam were unbelievable. They almost struck out every guy that they faced. It was great to see that. A big part of that is we played on Thursday and got a lot of depth out of our starters and positioned ourselves to be in a good spot. We had a lot of guys saved up and ready to go. I was very pleased with that … Jake Watson’s been incredible. He keeps hitting and catches every inning.”
The two starters for Concordia were Caden Bugarske (1.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K) and Sam Bespoyasny (5 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, BB, 2 K). Pitching wins went to Rose and Bespoyasny. Hoiekvam picked up a save in game two. The NAIA’s leader for strikeouts per nine innings, the Bulldogs posted 28 strikeouts in 16 innings on Sunday.
Watson notched five hits on the day while continuing his iron man work behind the plate. In addition to the home run apiece for Wilson and Jordahl in game two, Bronx Lewis and Jake Tyler both went deep in game one. Lewis continues to lead the GPAC in home runs (18). Wilson finished with five hits on the day and Jordahl collected four.
DWU (17-24, 8-16 GPAC) got a combined 10 innings from starting pitchers Alex Mizsak (4.2 IP) and Caleb Myers (5.1 IP). Jarding smoldered with a triple, two home runs and four RBIs in game two. The two losses on Sunday mean the Tigers will have work to do next week to secure a spot in the GPAC tournament.
In the regular season’s final week, the Bulldogs will host Morningside (33-12, 21-3 GPAC) on Thursday before traveling to Hastings (20-22, 8-16 GPAC) on Saturday. The Mustangs will take a one-game lead in the GPAC standings into next week. The GPAC tournament is scheduled to begin with pod play on April 29.