SEWARD, Neb. – Following a weekend trip to South Dakota, the Concordia University Softball team looks forward to its final weekend of home action. The Bulldogs are getting set to welcome Briar Cliff and Mount Marty to Plum Creek Park for GPAC doubleheaders. As part of the occasion on Saturday, Concordia will honor a group of four seniors. The hope is to build upon Sunday’s 13-3 win over Dakota Wesleyan in game two of the twin bill in Mitchell, S.D. That result snapped a 12-game losing streak. Head Coach Brock Culler’s squad (13-24, 2-12 GPAC) will likely need to stack victories down the stretch if it is to qualify for the eight-team GPAC tournament.
This Week
Friday, April 21 vs. Briar Cliff (23-9, 7-3 GPAC), 2 p.m. DH
--Live Webcast/Stats | Location: Plum Creek Park (Seward, Neb.)
Saturday, April 22 vs. Mount Marty (13-14, 6-6 GPAC), 1 p.m. DH
--Live Webcast/Stats | Location: Plum Creek Park (Seward, Neb.)
By the numbers
· Culler and company never expected to be in this situation after they edged Morningside, 2-1, in the GPAC opener on March 25. Concordia couldn’t buy a break over the next couple of weeks and was swept in GPAC doubleheaders by Doane, Hastings, Midland, No. 13 Northwestern and Jamestown. The string of defeats sent the Bulldogs towards the bottom of the league standings. Currently, Concordia is tied with Dakota Wesleyan (2-12 GPAC) for 11th place. Entering the week, there are eight GPAC teams with at least six conference victories. In other words, the bottom four teams in the standings will have to win consistently down the stretch (and get some help) in order to move into the final top eight.
· The matchup with Jamestown on April 14 was moved to Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D., due to the fields in North Dakota remaining unplayable. The Bulldogs simply failed to finish game one, allowing a 5-2 lead in the bottom of the eight to slip away. Concordia had earned the lead in the top half of the inning when Taylor Glause and Julia Van Wey both delivered an RBI double as part of a three-run frame. In the bottom half, the Jimmies (15-15, 2-6 GPAC) tallied four back-breaking runs on three hits. The walk-off run scored on a wild pitch (final score of 6-5). It was an otherwise solid outing for pitcher Megan Eurich, who racked up 10 strikeouts in 7.2 innings. At the plate, Caitlyn McGarvie went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a run and an RBI. Then in game two, the Bulldogs trailed the entire way and were doomed by Jamestown’s five-run third inning. Both Glause and Kylie Shottenkirk came away with two hits in the 7-2 defeat.
· A disappointing 11-3 loss (six innings) in game one at Dakota Wesleyan led into an encouraging 13-3 win (five innings). Game one got away from Concordia when the Tigers tallied three runs apiece in the fourth and fifth innings. The response in game two was what Culler would have hoped for. At the top of the lineup, Hanna Bowers went 3-for-4 with a triple and five RBIs and freshman Jessie Bestenlehner supplied an obvious spark. The Millard South High School product went 3-for-3 with two runs and an RBI at the plate and earned the pitching win while covering all five innings (two earned runs). In addition, two hits apiece were notched by McGarvie, Shottenkirk and Van Wey. At long last, the Bulldogs earned their first win since March 25.
· It was an absolute must for the bats to heat up if Concordia was to break out of its slump. The results this past weekend were a step forward. Over the four games in South Dakota, the Bulldogs batted .311 (33-for-106) with nine doubles and two triples. The top individual hitters over that stretch were Bestenlehner (.571; 4-for-7), McGarvie (5-for-11; .455), Shottenkirk (.429; 6-for-14), Aubrey Bruning (.333; 4-for-12), Bowers (.333; 4-for-12) and Glause (.308; 4-for-13). Bowers’ five RBIs were tops on the team. On the season, four Bulldog regulars are batting above or near .300: Shottenkirk (.360), Bowers (.350), Bruning (.309) and McGarvie (.299). Overall this season, Concordia has averaged 4.4 runs per game.
· Glause reached a career milestone in the doubleheader against Jamestown when she recorded the 100th hit of her collegiate career. By weekend’s end, Glause’ career total stood at 103 hits. The Malcolm, Neb., native played one season at Cloud County Community College before transferring to Concordia. She collected 48 hits at Cloud County and now has 55 hits as a Bulldog. With 93 career hits, Van Wey is also on the verge of reaching that milestone. In the history of Bulldog Softball, there are 16 players that have produced at least 150 hits. The all-time leader remains Concordia Athletic Hall of Famer Mindy (Evans) Miller with 227.
· The four seniors that will be honored on Saturday are Caitlyn McGarvie (Valparaiso, Neb.), Jerzi Rowe (Gretna, Neb.), Sydney Schildt (Milford, Neb.) and Alexis Tachovsky (Wilber, Neb.). Among the seniors, McGarvie has garnered the most accolades having twice been named First Team All-GPAC. In four seasons, McGarvie has played in 136 games and has batted .344 with 81 runs scored 124 hits, 24 doubles, eight triples, two home runs and 59 RBIs. As for Rowe, she will graduate early as a three-year member of the program. Rowe has appeared in 58 games and owns a 4.55 ERA and 19 wins in 247.2 innings. Each of the seniors were part of the 2021 team that advanced to the GPAC Championship Series and qualified for the national tournament.
The opponents
Briar Cliff has made a nice leap forward in 2023. The Chargers finished last season at 19-22 overall (9-13 GPAC). Head Coach Erin Bly has led this year’s squad to a 23-9 overall mark. Briar Cliff returned 2022 Second Team All-GPAC honoree Kylee Lukes, who is hitting .316 with 13 extra-base hits and a .568 slugging percentage this season. The biggest strength of the team has been its pitching thanks to the work of newcomers Maddi Duncan (13-4, 1.66 ERA, 8.64 K/7) and Katelyn Kotlarz (9-4, 1.88 ERA, 10.34 K/7). The Chargers rank first in the GPAC in strikeouts per seven innings (8.98) and third in the league in ERA (2.00). Briar Cliff was ranked third in the most recent official GPAC poll.
Mount Marty enjoyed the best season in its program’s history last season when it went 32-16 overall and placed in a tie for third in the GPAC. From that squad, the Lancers brought back all-conference award winners in Bailey Kortan (second team) and Abigail Page (second team). Mount Marty has lacked some of the firepower it displayed last season, but Elisabeth McGill is hitting a robust .424. The team’s top pitchers have been Makayla Graunke (5-7, 2.27 ERA) and McKenzie Gray (6-6, 4.62 ERA). Now in her second season as Head Coach, Kayla Bryant led the program to a 2022 GPAC tournament title and a trip to the national tournament.
Next week
The regular season will wrap up next week as the Bulldogs will play at College of Saint Mary on April 25 and at Dordt on April 29. The GPAC tournament will get started with pod play on May 3.