WICHITA, Kan. – Concordia University, Nebraska Softball split its Saturday (March 7) at the Friends University Invite while competing in Wichita, Kan. The Bulldogs fell to Baker University (Kan.), 11-3, in the opening contest before bouncing back with a 5-2 victory over Bethany College (Kan.) later in the day. Concordia showcased big swings by Aubriana Krieser and Keira Farritor in the second game to secure the split.
With the day’s results, the Bulldogs moved to 9-7 on the season.
“The way that we bounced back from Baker was good to see,” Head Coach Brock Culler said. “We started out a little slow offensively in the game against Bethany, but two big hits really opened that up. The defense responded after the first game and played clean behind Deni, so that was nice to see. The first three innings of the game against Baker were really competitive. I thought it was really well-played softball on both sides. We showed up and were competing. Then it got away from us. We booted a couple of balls and hit a couple batters. Baker is too good to do that to.”
Aubriana Krieser paced Concordia’s offense, going 2-for-5 with a double, a home run (7th career) plating four RBIs across the two outings. Keira Farritor added a key swing with a two-run four-bagger (2nd season) and finished 2-for-6 with two RBIs, while Taryn Ganstrom chipped in 2-for-5 at the plate with two runs scored, including a triple in the Wildcats game.
The Bulldogs responded in the second contest behind Denison and a surge of power at the plate. Bethany struck first in the third inning, but Concordia answered in the fifth. After Bailey Merritt tied the game with an RBI single, Farritor blasted a two-run home run to center field giving the Bulldogs a 3-1 lead. Concordia added insurance in the sixth inning when Krieser launched a two-run crack out to center, stretching the lead (5-1).
In the circle, Kaylei Denison delivered a strong outing in the second game, tossing a complete game while allowing two runs on eight hits with four strikeouts. Denison has won three-straight inside the circle.
Down by one run (3-2) in the fourth, Baker quickly seized momentum in the bottom half of the frame, stringing together multiple hits in a six-run rally that flipped the game to an 8-3 Wildcat advantage.
Concordia had grabbed the early lead in the second inning when Krieser drove in Ganstrom, but Baker answered with two runs in the third inning to go up 2-1. The Bulldogs responded in the fourth as Krieser ripped an RBI double to tie the game before Zaugg followed with an RBI single to push Concordia ahead (3-2).
Concordia (9-7, 0-0 GPAC) will enter GPAC action next when the Bulldogs face Midland (12-6, 0-0 GPAC) in Fremont, Neb. The Dawgs will take first pitch at 5 p.m. CT in the doubleheader at Schlike Field.