SEWARD, Neb. – Concordia University, Nebraska Softball clinched the sixth seed and is set to face third-seeded Morningside in the opening contest of the GPAC tournament. The Bulldogs will be traveling to Sioux Center, Iowa for the Dordt bracket and Midland will host pod one. The pod two group includes No. 2 Dordt, (3) Morningside, (6) Concordia and (7) Briar Cliff. Head Coach Brock Culler’s squad finished its regular season with a 22-18 record and an 11-10 GPAC slate ending with a three-game winning streak.
2026 GPAC Tournament – Dordt Bracket
--Full Bracket
April 29 – 30 | Open Space Park (Sioux Center, Iowa)
--Live Webcasts (available for all games) | Live Stats
Wednesday, April 29
Game 1 – (2) Dordt vs. (7) Briar Cliff, 12 p.m.
Game 2 – (3) Morningside vs. (6) Concordia, 2 p.m.
Game 3 – Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner, 4 p.m.
Game 4 – Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser, 6 p.m.
Thursday, April 30
Game 5 – Game 4 Winner vs. Game 3 Loser, 12 p.m.
Game 6 – Game 3 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner, 2 p.m.
Game 7 – Game 6 Winner vs. Game 6 Loser, 4 p.m. (if necessary)
Admission: Admission is $10 for adults/senior citizens and $3 for K-12. Only those with NAIA passes and GPAC student ID’s will be admitted free of charge.
By the numbers
· As a program, Concordia has qualified for the GPAC tournament in 23 out of a possible 25 years (the first season of GPAC softball was 2001). The only seasons the Bulldogs missed out on conference postseason play were 2013 and 2023. Since then, Concordia has enjoyed its share of success in the GPAC tournament. The Bulldogs celebrated a GPAC tournament title in 2015 and placed as the runner-up in 2014 and 2021. Each of those postseason runs resulted in appearances in the NAIA National Championship Opening Round. The ’21 squad emerged as the champion of the Morningside Bracket pod and reached the GPAC Championship Series.
· Concordia is looking for its first win in the Brock Culler era at the GPAC tournament. Just a half game short of the GPAC win total last season (12-10) because of a no-contest game, the Bulldogs will try and extend their season into the national tournament with a tournament championship. In the non-conference, Concordia was on fire with an 11-8 record winning six of seven from February 28-March 21. Last year, CUNE dropped both tournament games, resulting in an early exit.
· Taryn Ganstrom is the second in career triples leader with 15 (five season), speed racing all the way to the third bag. The Seneca, Kan, product passed Tori Homolka (2018-21) with 14, as the leader Mindy Evans (1996-99) has 18. Ganstrom has the second-highest in hits (46) and extra-base knocks (15) this season. A Southwestern transfer, Ganstrom has 31 runs, 26 runs batted in, nine walks, seven doubles and a second stolen bases (14-for-19). She is batting .354 this year and has surpassed 100 career hits.
· Mary Beth Hart is the leadoff batter who gets on base with a .519 percentage and the Seward dugouts’ highest hitting percentage (.404) – seventh in the league. MB has stolen the hearts of Bulldog nation with her positivity and 19 bags (fourth in GPAC) from her cat-like quickness. Hart leads Concordia with 59 slashes and 15 extra-base knocks. The right fielder has driven in 18 runs, earned six walks and ran across the plate a whopping 37 times (5th in GPAC).
· Kiera Farritor has had an offensive power explosion in 2026 hitting .395 and has a team high slugging percentage (.649). The designated player has belted six home runs (leads team) and 11 doubles (second team) with a squad high of 32 runs batted in. She had two extra base hits in 2025 compared to her 17 this season. The sophomore out of Malcomb, Neb., has 45 hits, 15 runs scored and nine base on balls.
· Pitcher Kaylei Denison is the ace for the Bulldogs, earning a 13-10 record with 84 strikeouts (fifth in GPAC). The Concordia tosser has thrown 140.2 innings delivering two shutouts in 14 complete games. With a 3.38 ERA, the Waverly product started 23 games while allowing 68 earned runs. Kierstyn Linn has been the go-to game two pitcher with a 6-5 record in 70.0 innings thrown and 29 punch outs.
· In the final three games, Concordia completed three run-rule contests with two wins over Doane (9-0 (5 inn.), 12-4 (6 inn.)) and College of Saint Mary (9-1 (5 inn.)). The second game against the Flames was ruled a no-contest because of the weather and the score being tied (3-3) in the seventh. In the few games, Tobi Topp (6-for-9), Kiera Farritor (6-for-11) and Mary Beth Hart (6-for-11) all had six knocks as Taryn Ganstrom (5-for-11) and Aubriana Krieser (5-for-8) weren’t far behind. Farritor (six), Hart (five), Topp (four) and Ganstrom (four) led in runs driven in. Four players had base-clearing hits including Farritor (sixth season), Topp (four), Ganstrom (three) and Laycee Josoff (three). Kaylei Denison (two, 1.43 ERA) and Kierstyn Linn (one, 10.50 ERA) earned wins as they pitched 14.2 and 1.1 innings, respectively.
· For the season, nine Bulldogs are hitting a .300+ hitting percentage including Grace Zaugg (.362), Ganstrom, Krieser (.350), Topp (.336), Josoff (.316), Grace Maguire (.310) and Avery O’Boyle (.310). In slugging percentage, Farritor (.649) paces the team with Ganstrom (.554), Topp (.533), Hart (.527), Krieser (.504) and Zaugg (.500) behind her. With the GPAC second-highest batting average (.339), Concordia slugs .484 with a .388 on-base percentage.
Dordt Bracket opponents
(2) Dordt (37-10, 18-4 GPAC) – The Defenders roared back to take second place in the standings after 22 games in the conference regular season winning eight in a row to take the second host spot up for grabs. With the best batting average in the conference, Dordt shells out a .365 hitting percentage just above the Bulldogs. The Defenders rely heavily on a trio that includes three of the top-5 GPAC batting averages from Chloe Kreuz (.494), Rylee Yager (.465) and Lauren Steenstra (.413). Kreuz (20, 64) and Steenstra (13, 72) lead the league in homers and RBIs. Yager is a menace on the bases and in the circle with 29 stolen bags and 17 wins (2 in GPAC) and 196 strikeouts (2nd in GPAC). Abigail Tweedy (1.89) and Yager (2.23) pace the squad in team-low ERA.
(3) Morningside (26-16, 17-5 GPAC) – The Mustangs have won eight of their last 10 games but dropped two pivotal ones to drop to third place. With yet another high-octane offense in pod two, Morningside boasts the fourth-best hitting percentage (.316) and the second-highest on-base rate (.400). With 245 runs scored, the Sioux City dugout has 245 hits and 19 home runs in 42 games. Mackenzi Harrel has cracked 10 of the round trips with a .358 batting average and 19 extra base slugs. Paige Schuster has a team bolstering hitting percentage (.449), barreling 31 hits (five extra-base). Adeline Fliege (127.2 IP) is the Mustangs' star in the circle with one shy of 100 strikeouts (4th in GPAC). Fliege is No. 3 in the conference with 16 wins.
(7) Briar Cliff (20-26, 10-12 GPAC) – The Chargers had won eight in a row before Dordt snatched a sweep against them in Hubbard Park. Briar Cliff scored 208 runs with a .289 (eighth in GPAC) on a .409 slugging percentage. With 345 hits, the Chargers are second in the conference in triples (15) and 12 home runs on the year. Lauryn Mattox (.342) and Leah Montes (.331) pace the Sioux City side in hitting rates as Kaela Persico has mashed five homers. Aubrey White has a 4.88 ERA in 90.1 innings with 43 punch outs. White has a 10-8 record inside the circle.
GPAC Championship Series
The Midland and Dordt bracket winners will meet in the GPAC Championship Series on Saturday (hosted by the highest remaining seed). It will be a best-of-three series, with game one beginning at a time to be determined. As the GPAC regular-season champion, the Warriors have earned one of the league’s two automatic berths to nationals. The GPAC tournament champion will also receive a bid. Should Midland win the conference tournament, the second national bid would go to the GPAC tournament runner-up.