ORANGE CITY, Iowa – Concordia University, Nebraska Softball competed in GPAC pod play in Orange City, Iowa, dropping its first two games on Wednesday (April 30). The No. 5 seed Bulldogs were defeated by No. 4 seed Dakota Wesleyan (6-1) and No. 1 seed Northwestern (6-0) at the NWC Softball Diamond. Head Coach Brock Culler and company are knocked out of the postseason with two losses.
CUNE ends its softball season with a 27-20 overall record and a 12-10 GPAC slate.
“We swung the bats well, but we just couldn’t string anything together,” Coach Culler said. “Against Northwestern, we had a couple of times we could have had a big inning, and we just couldn’t put them together. Pitching and defense were pretty good, but we misplayed a few bunts against Northwestern. The one big inning Dakota Wesleyan had, we should have gotten out of the inning a little sooner. Overall, the girls were competing out there.”
With nine hits in the two games, Concordia continued to have runners on base but couldn’t capitalize with teammates on. Jennifer Katz (2-for-5), Laycee Josoff (2-for-5) and Taryn Ganstrom (2-for-6) led the team with multiple knocks apiece in day one of the GPAC tournament.
Knotted in a scoreless contest after two and a half frames, Dakota Wesleyan pushed across four runs (three unearned) via McKinnely Mull plus a Bulldog error. After the Tigers tacked on one more, Aubrey Bruning singled and scored on a stolen base with a throwing error. Opportunities arose in the later innings, but the Tigers seemed to be able to escape unscathed.
In a similar fashion, the Bulldogs' pitching staff went into the third inning without a blemish. The Red Raiders punched in three runs in the third and fourth frames via Tatum Schmalbeck and untamed pitches. Both of Josoff’s hits would come in the contest versus Northwestern, but the offense stalled out in the end.
Bruning, Avery O’Boyle, Kylie Shottenkirk cracked a hit each, but the rest of the lineups came up empty.
Megan Eurich and Kaylei Denison graced the pitchers’ circle as both hurlers threw in the two contests. Eurich, a Gretna, Neb., native, pitched for a total of 7.1 frames and Denison 4.1. They combined for seven earned runs given up (five unearned) and six strikeouts.
The No. 8 seed Doane went 2-0 on day one putting Dakota Wesleyan and Northwestern in an elimination game in the opener tomorrow in Orange City. The two teams will compete at 12 p.m. at the NWC Softball Diamond.
Coach Culler said, “This team was capable of playing at a high level. It’s unfortunate that we weren’t playing at that high level toward the end of the season. We had some really young players who contributed toward the end, so some of those created opportunities and took advantage of them. I told the seniors to trust me, this program is going in the right direction.”
Concordia has finished with the most wins (27) under Coach Culler and will look to build on the program for the 2025-26 season.