SEWARD, Neb. – After having a scheduled doubleheader canceled this weekend, the Concordia University Softball team is eager to get back on the diamond. The Bulldogs have been idle since they finished their stay at the Tucson Invitational on March 10. Head Coach Brock Culler’s squad is preparing for its first home appearances of the 2023 season. Concordia (11-10) will welcome former GPAC rival Nebraska Wesleyan University to Seward on Thursday before hosting Morningside on Saturday. The twin bill with the Prairie Wolves is the final nonconference action on the regular season slate.
This Week
Thursday, March 23 vs. Nebraska Wesleyan (11-5), 4 p.m. DH
--Live Webcast/Stats | Location: Plum Creek Park (Seward, Neb.)
Saturday, March 25 vs. Morningside (13-6, 0-0 GPAC), 1 p.m. DH
--Live Webcast/Stats | Location: Plum Creek Park (Seward, Neb.)
By the numbers
· The notes below are a repeat of what was published last week. The statistics have been stuck in place with the Bulldogs having last week off from varsity competition. As long as the weather holds, Concordia will be playing much more regularly over the next month-and-a-half as it attempts to make some noise within the conference.
· Coach Culler has a much better handle now on the strengths and weaknesses of his roster. The recent stretch of hectic road trips also included four games in Wichita, Kan., at the Friends Invite. With 21 games in the books, Concordia has totaled 122 runs for an average of 5.8 per game. Meanwhile, its pitchers have combined for a 4.06 ERA through 134.1 innings. In terms of batting average, the Bulldogs’ leading hitters are Hanna Bowers (.414), Caitlyn McGarvie (.368), Aubrey Bruning (.360), Kylie Shottenkirk (.354), Delanie Voshell (.346), Julia Van Wey (.344) and Zoie Isom (.339). Shottenkirk was honored as the GPAC Player of the Week on March 7 after her run of hot hitting at the Friends Invite. A native of Fillmore, Calif., Isom has been an RBI machine with 23 runs driven in so far. Shottenkirk has supplied impressive extra base power with six doubles and three home runs.
· Over the nine games in Tucson, the Bulldogs claimed victories over (in order) Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (N.Y.), Dickinson State University (N.D.), University of St. Francis (Ill.), Olivet Nazarene University (Ill.) and Siena Heights University (Mich.). Three of the nine games ended in walk-off fashion. McGarvie struck for a walk-off, two-run double to edge St. Francis, 5-4, while Bruning singled home the winner in the 2-1 triumph over Siena Heights. Concordia also fell victim to a walk-off in its 5-4 defeat at the hands of NAIA No. 2 Indiana Wesleyan University. So far this season, the Bulldogs have played in the states of Arizona and Kansas only.
· McGarvie recorded her 100th career hit on March 4 at the Friends Invite. The Lincoln North Star High School product got out to a bit of a slow start due to a minor injury, but she heated up considerably in Tucson. Over the nine games at the invite, McGarvie went 13-for-29 (.448) with two doubles, two triples, a home run and nine RBIs while slugging .759. On the season, McGarvie is hitting .368 with a .471 on-base percentage and .632 slugging percentage. Not only did she have a walk-off double in Tucson, she also ended the win over RPI by gunning down a runner at the plate. She’s a two-time First Team All-GPAC award winner on track for more honors as a fourth-year player.
· To this point, Megan Eurich has been the team’s most effective pitcher. The sophomore from Gretna, Neb., appeared in five games in Tucson and recorded a 3-1 record and 2.59 ERA in 24.1 innings (12 strikeouts). Eurich entered the final two games of the trip in relief and was credited with the win in both instances. Eurich has moved her season record to 7-1 with a 3.07 ERA. Her 57 innings are most on the team. Culler also feels confident in Jessie Bestenlehner, Jerzi Rowe and Brooke Townsend in the circle. Rowe has the most college experience of the bunch. Just a freshman, Bestenlehner has allowed only three earned runs in her first 11.1 innings.
· Shottenkirk seems to have picked up where she left off at the end of the 2022 season when she went 8-for-8 at the plate during the GPAC tournament. A Lincoln North Star alum like McGarvie, Shottenkirk put together a recent run with at least one hit in at least 10-straight games. Included in that stretch was a 4-for-4 performance with a homer and three RBIs in a win over York. She’s part of a nucleus of sophomores that includes Bowers, Bruning and Isom. Shottenkirk is hitting .354 with a .432 on-base percentage and .585 slugging percentage.
· Concordia is one of eight GPAC teams that enter this week with nonconference records above .500. The other seven are Northwestern (23-2), Dordt (19-5), Briar Cliff (14-6), Morningside (13-6), Midland (13-6), Jamestown (13-8) and Doane (13-9). In the official GPAC ratings released on March 6, the top five teams in the league were Northwestern, Midland, Morningside, Dordt and Briar Cliff. The Bulldogs were pegged eighth in the GPAC preseason coaches’ poll.
The opponents
Nebraska Wesleyan is coming off a 23-16 overall record in a 2022 season that saw it reach the a regional site at the NCAA Division III championships. A former member of the GPAC, the Prairie Wolves shifted to what is now called the American Rivers Conference starting with the 2017 season. The program is led by Head Coach Mary Yori, who is in her eighth season at Nebraska Wesleyan. The team’s leading hitter through 16 games in 2023 has been Jenna Kimberling, who is batting .422 with two home runs and 14 RBIs. The roster includes a former Bulldog in Val Gerlach, who plays catcher and third base. Before heading to Seward on Thursday, the Prairie Wolves are slated to play at Hastings on Monday and at Midland on Wednesday.
A perennial power in the GPAC, Morningside is transitioning with a new head coach in Brooke Pruner, who was promoted from within the program. A former Briar Cliff standout, Pruner took over the head role from Jessica Jones-Sitzmann (803-402 career record), who remains on the staff and also serves as assistant athletic director. This past 2022 season, the Mustangs went 32-15 and fell short of reaching the national tournament. Morningside brings back two First Team All-GPAC performers in Morgan Nixon and Sydney Peterson. Nixon has started hot with 14 extra-base hits (.981 slugging percentage) over the season’s first 19 games. At 7-3 with a 2.89 ERA, Grace Buffington has been the team’s ace pitcher.
Next week
GPAC play will continue next week as the Bulldogs are scheduled to play at Doane on March 28 and then will host Hastings on April 1. Concordia is slated to open conference action with four of its first five doubleheaders at home.