SEWARD, Neb. – Following a weekend spent in Oklahoma City, the Concordia University Baseball team is slated to be in action for two games in Joplin, Mo., on Sunday and for two at Kansas Wesleyan University this coming Tuesday. Originally, the Bulldogs had been scheduled for four games in Joplin this weekend, but the deck was shuffled due to expected chilly temperatures on Saturday. Warmer weather should arrive on Sunday and allow for the adjusted schedule to be played out. Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s program also played games in Joplin during the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
Up Next (Feb. 18, 20)
Sunday, Feb. 18 vs. William Penn (1-3), 12 p.m. CT DH
--NAIA Scoreboard | Location: Wendell Redden Stadium (Joplin, Mo.)
Tuesday, Feb. 20 at Kansas Wesleyan University (5-1), 2 p.m. CT DH
--NAIA Scoreboard | Location: Dean Evans Stadium (Salina, Kan.)
Concordia went 1-2 during its opening weekend of the 2024 campaign. Following losses to host Oklahoma City University, 6-5, and No. 7 Bellevue University, 12-7, on Feb. 9, the Bulldogs rebounded with an 11-1 victory over Oklahoma City on Feb. 10. A pair of newcomers to the Concordia lineup enjoyed strong starts as Brad Hallock (Carrollton, Texas) went 4-for-6 with two home runs and four RBIs and Matt Rhoades (Monument, Colo.) went 4-for-9 with two blasts and seven RBIs. Hallock, Rhoades and transfer shortstop Jimmy Blumberg are new Bulldogs that have joined a lineup featuring returning First Team All-GPAC honorees in Jay Adams, Alec Blakestad, Joey Grabanski, Ty Nekoliczak and Jaidan Quinn and second team all-league choice Tanner Tompkins.
It's a constant milestone watch for a program that has put up dizzying offense numbers the past several seasons. Adams has pushed his career hit total to 269, leaving him one off the school’s all-time record held by Jesse Garcia (270 hits). The Waverly, Neb., native Adams already owns the school career record for runs scored with 220. As for Concordia’s home run king Grabanski (62 career homers), he needs three more RBIs to break Garcia’s program standard of 216 career RBIs. In addition, Quinn belted his 47th homer as a Bulldog this past weekend and is tied with Keaton Candor for third on the school’s all-time list.
Two solid pitching performances were turned in by starters Caden Johnson and Caden Bugarske last week in Oklahoma City. Johnson made his 30th career start and went 4.1 innings with two earned runs allowed on two hits and two walks (six strikeouts). Bugarske picked up his 15th career win while navigating five innings (one run allowed) in the rout of Oklahoma City. Dupic trotted out 10 different pitchers during the season’s opening weekend.
Concordia will learn more about itself over the next several days. During the 2023 season, William Penn went 29-22 and Kansas Wesleyan went 44-15 and qualified for the national tournament. The Bulldogs saw William Penn in Joplin last year and earned a 1-0 victory. The most recent Concordia meeting with Kansas Wesleyan took place in 2018 and resulted in a 16-3 Bulldog victory in Salina.
Next Weekend
In a slate laid out similarly to a year ago, Concordia will continue action with a four-game series versus Culver-Stockton College (Mo.) the weekend of Feb. 24-25. All four games are slated to be held at LaRoche Complex in Fort Scott, Kan.