Baseball team takes another doubleheader victory, this time against Hastings, 4-1 and 3-1

Senior third baseman Jaidan Quinn gets in position at the plate (photo from previous game).

Photo credit: Cohen Carpenter

By Cohen Carpenter

While inclement weather might have postponed Friday night action, Concordia baseball looked no worse for the wear Monday, sweeping Hastings College in a rescheduled afternoon doubleheader, winning 4-1 and 3-1 across two seven inning games.

With feels-like temperatures in the low 30s and winds gusting in from center field at 25 miles per hour at times, one could say it was a pitcher’s playpen in Plum Creek Park Monday afternoon. The first Bulldog to put that notion to the test was Concordia starter Christian Gutierrez.

The senior, who has pitched to a 3.86 ERA this season, needed all the fortunate winds he could get, as the long-time veteran was on the precipice of Concordia history. Coming into game one Monday afternoon, Gutierrez had 26 career wins, one off Nick Little’s program record of 27.

If there was any pressure at all, however, the California native didn’t let that show as he proceeded to pitch a seven-inning complete game, allowing a single run while only allowing five total baserunners and striking out eight Broncos.

Despite the complete game, Guiterrez needed only 72 pitches to shut down the Hastings offense. Thankfully, the Concordia offense came through, and the outing was more than enough to garner Guiterrez’s 27th and now, program leading, career win.

“He’s a special kid,” said head coach Ryan Dupic. “One of his teammates the other day said, ‘Man, I just couldn’t imagine this program without him.’ He’s been so reliable for us in this starting rotation and for four years he’s taken the ball and thrown deep into games. He gives us a chance to win. He’s just a great kid with a terrific story.”

The bats didn’t put up the gaudy numbers seen in previous games, but there certainly wasn’t any opportunity for opposing pitchers to catch their breath. While the Bulldogs only drew one walk in the first game, every at-bat was taken with a certain tenacity that was palpable from the stands. First pitches were often taken, the zone was not often expanded and batters were selective. This trend of tough at-bats has been a point of emphasis for Dupic’s squad this season.

“We like tough at-bats,” said Dupic. “Our guys have really trained that discipline as much as possible and they do a great job offensively getting their pitches. We feel like that’s something that’s a really big part of what we do and how our offense is effective.”

When you see a lot of pitches, you’re liable to see a pitch you’d want to hit – just ask Matthew Rhodes. Concordia’s sophomore first baseman went 2-3 with an RBI coming virtue of a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth. Rhodes, along with senior second baseman Ty Nekoliczak were the only two Bulldogs with multiple hits in the first game.

Game two saw freshman Micah Sweeton take the mound who proved to be equally as oppressive to Hastings’ offensive aspirations; through five innings Sweeton allowed four hits, three walks and nary a run while striking out eight batters in what turned out to be his fifth win of the season.

Now, while up until this point, all eyes might have been fixed to the Californians (Guiterrez and Sweeton) on the mound, they were about to be averted to the Californian on the base path. In the bottom of the second, senior catcher Michael Welch drew a walk to put runners on first and second.

After a centerfield fly ball vacated second, coach Dupic put junior Zachery Day on first as a pinch runner. The basepath extraordinaire, and native of Simi Valley, California, did what he does best – stole second, which marked his 70th career robbery, passing Jerry Dittenber and setting the program record for steals.

“He epitomizes our program,” said Dupic. “I love that kid. He’s come in here and this is his third year – he’s mainly a courtesy runner and he takes tremendous pride in it. He stays ahead of it. Its guys like him that makes this program go and he does a really, really good job.”

To put a bow on things, not only did Day steal number 71 to pad his lead, but he also broke the record on his 21st birthday.

Facilitating this production on the basepaths were the usual suspects at the plate. Senior third baseman Jaidan Quinn reached base in every plate appearance, going 1-1 with two walks. Following Quinn’s second walk of the game in the third, he was driven in by a Jaeden Jordahl home run to left. With the winds still howling, the junior left fielder got just enough of the barrel to ricochet the ball off the top of the left field fence – a home run by the very slimmest of margins, but worth two runs all the same.

All in all, while the fireworks seen in recent games were absent in this series, none of the Seward faithful were complaining as they were treated to two wins and two records broken across 14 innings of baseball.

With the Hastings series in the books, Concordia will be on the road next in what will be their final road series of the regular season. On April 12, the Bulldogs will face off against Mount Marty in Yankton, South Dakota for the first two games of a four-game set which concludes Sunday.