Baseball sweeps Northwestern in double-header, 17-5 and 2-1

Sophomore infielder Matthew Rhoades (7) swings the bat.

Photo credit: Josiah Seabaugh

By Cohen Carpenter

Now well underway in the conference season, Concordia put together its first Great Plains Athletic Conference sweep, winning both games of a Monday afternoon double header against Northwestern in the Red Raiders home opener, 17-5 and 2-1, respectively.

Northwestern came into the day’s first game having done well for themselves in non-conference action, boasting a 13-5 record due to the notable efforts from both the top of their rotation and lineup. Red Raider centerfielder Luke Wroblewski currently leads the conference in batting with an impressive triple slash: .459/.564/.656 – the best batting average, on base percentage and ninth best slugging percentage in the GPAC.

On the mound, Northwestern lays claim to the conference’s best pitcher. Drew Dykstra, across 35.2 IP this year has the GPAC’s best ERA (0.76), most complete games (3), and lowest WHIP (0.67).

With this in mind, the Bulldogs were glad to see that in their two matchups with the Red Raiders, Dykstra stayed put in the dugout – a fact made evident by the first game’s final score. Scoring came early and often in the series’ first matchup as Concordia put up a three spot in the first and second innings, followed by a two run third. By the time Northwestern first got on the board in the bottom of the fourth, Concordia had taken a 12-0 lead.

While the Red Raiders attempted to mount a comeback, scoring five in the fourth and two in the sixth, it proved to be too little, too late as Concordia plated a total of 15 runs across seven innings. This offensive outpour came largely without the use of the long-ball, as senior third baseman Jaidan Quinn, who finished 2-3 with three RBIs and a walk, had the lone homer of the game in the second inning.

Doing the brunt of the heavy lifting for the offense was the top four in the Bulldogs’ lineup, with the aforementioned Quinn being joined with senior second baseman Ty Nekoliczak leading off going 2-5 with two RBIs and a walk, junior left fielder Jaeden Jordahl batting third going 2-3 with an RBI and a walk and Concordia’s ever-impressive sophomore first baseman Matthew Rhoades cleaning up and cleaning house, going 4-4 with five RBIs.

On the bump for the Bulldogs was the freshman phenom who dazzled in his first two collegiate starts, garnering a GPAC pitcher of the week award, Micah Sweeton. The California native had a rougher go of it compared to past outings, yet still came away with his second win on the season, going 4.0 IP allowing five hits, five runs and four walks while striking out three.

Game two had a far different tune than the first. Concordia again got on the board first, courtesy of a double from senior designated hitter Bradley Hallock and a single from senior shortstop Jimmy Blumber, which drove Hallock in. From that point onward, both offenses went dormant until Northwestern tied things up after Red Raider pitcher Devin Dirkx drove in the aforementioned Wroblewski on a fifth inning single.

This meant the game came down to its final frame – in which the Bulldogs employed a dash of small ball. After Blumberg got hit by a pitch, junior Zackery Day came into the game as a pinch runner. A batter later, Day swiped second – the 62nd steal of his career, only the third Bulldog in program history to reach 60 career stolen bases – putting him in perfect position to score off of a Nekoliczak single into center field.

This lone run in the top of the seventh proved to be enough, as junior reliever Daiten Schmidt came out of the bullpen with bad intentions, getting three consecutive soft-contact outs to net the Hickman, Nebraska native his third save of the season.

Getting the start in game two was senior Braxton Greenburg who went five IP, allowing a mere five hits, one run and two walks while striking out seven across 22 batters faced. Unfortunately for Greenburg however, there wasn’t enough run support to net him the win.

Offensively, in a lineup card filled with zeros, the middle infield shined with Ty Nekoliczak going 2-3 with a walk and an RBI and his double-play partner, Jimmy Blumberg going 1-2 with the team’s only other RBI.

The Bulldogs will be back in action this coming weekend, Saturday March 22nd where they will take on Doane in Crete, Nebraska. First pitch for game one, the first of four games in two days, is scheduled for 12 p.m.