Baseball team completes four-game sweep of Dakota Wesleyan with 10-4 and 12-2 wins
Junior outfielder Bronx Lewis takes his at-bat (photo from previous game).
Photo credit: Cohen Carpenter
By Kai Olbrich
The Concordia University baseball team completed a four-game sweep of Dakota Wesleyan on April 27, winning its last two games 10-4 and 12-2 in impressive fashion and setting a Great Plains Athletic Conference record in the process.
The second game marked the 25th win of the GPAC regular season for the Bulldogs, a new school and conference record.
Despite the comfortable scorelines, the first game started off shaky for Concordia as they conceded three runs in the top of the first inning. Nerves were calmed, however, as the Bulldogs answered back with three of their own and proceeded to score seven more unanswered runs, with Dakota Wesleyan getting a late one in the top of the seventh.
The standout on offense was sophomore Matthew Rhoades, who notched a two-run homer, an RBI single, and made it home himself on three occasions. Senior Tanner Tompkins also had a solid day in the batter’s box as he tied Rhoades in the RBI category with three. Senior Jaidan Quinn, Concordia’s all-time leader in home runs, had two RBIs and three runs.
On the mound for the Bulldogs, senior Christian Gutierrez pitched six innings and gave up six hits, three runs, and struck out five batters. Gutierrez was relieved by sophomore Alex Griess, who pitched the final inning, striking out one and allowing two hits and a lone run. Neither pitcher walked a batter, and Gutierrez got the win.
The second game of the day was a very close affair right to the final two innings. Dakota Wesleyan struck first once again, going up 1-0 in the top of the second. Concordia answered back with a run in the third, and both teams scored in the fifth inning to keep the game level at two apiece.
The bottom of the sixth was when things turned in the Bulldogs’ favor. A series of walks and wild pitches got runners in good scoring position for Concordia, and Rhoades took advantage as he knocked out a three-run homer. Rhoades batted again in the inning and hit and two-RBI single. When all was said and done, Concordia had scored 10 runs in the sixth inning alone.
Next in line behind Rhoades’s heroics, seniors Bradley Hallock and Ty Nekoliczak were the top Concordia hitters. Both walked three times, and Hallock scored three runs and had two RBIs while Nekoliczak had two runs and one RBI.
The Bulldogs employed five pitchers throughout the game, with freshman Micah Sweeton getting the most pitches in, as well as the win. In his four innings, Sweeton gave up one hit, one run, and struck out a batter while walking three. Rhoades and senior Seth Claybourne each pitched an inning and struck out two. Sophomore Sam Rambajan pitched 0.1 innings and got one strikeout, while junior Daiten Schmidt closed out the final 0.2 innings without allowing a hit or run.
The Bulldogs are back in action on April 30 to take on Dakota Wesleyan once again, this time in the first round of the GPAC Tournament pod play. The game is set to start at 6 p.m. at Seward’s Plum Creek Ballpark.
