Baseball wins third game of the weekend against Oklahoma City Stars
Sophomore Matthew Rhoades (7) swings the bat (photo from previous game).
Photo credit: Josiah Seabaugh
By Cohen Carpenter
After consecutive 11-7 and 2-1 victories the day prior, Concordia got their bats and their pitching on the same page before the third game of the weekend in a 15-3 victory over No. 23 Oklahoma City University this past Saturday afternoon.
The game versus the Stars wraps up a three-game road trip in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma where the Bulldogs, ranked 20th to begin the 2025 season, went undefeated to start the year against three straight ranked opponents.
As indicated by the final score, all facets of coach Ryan Dupic’s squad were clicking Saturday afternoon, namely senior Christian Gutierrez was dealing in his first start of the year. Gutierrez was a cornerstone of the Bulldog’s pitching staff in the 2024 season, pitching to a 3.61 ERA and a 7-3 overall record. Picking up right where he left off, the native Californian pitched 4.1 innings versus the Stars allowing only three hits and one walk, striking out eight.
“We won the strike zone today,” said Dupic in a post game interview with Jake Knabel. “Guti really mixed pitches well and threw a ton of strikes on a colder day, a little bit harder day to drive the ball. Our hitters did a tremendous job of not expanding the strike zone. That’s what really what made that inning blow up in the second and gave us a big lead. That let Guti settle in and do his thing. We also got a ton of bullpen arms in that hadn’t had a chance to pitch. There isn’t much more to say other than our guys did a really good job.”
Run support was the name of the game Saturday as the Bulldogs crowded the scoreboard in the second, scoring nine runs across four hits and two errors. In one half inning, the Bulldogs boasted RBIs from senior Jimmy Blumberg, sophomore Alex Draper, sophomore Matthew Rhoades and junior Bronx Lewis. From then on out, it was smooth sailing for Concordia.
Overall, the Concordia offense had 14 hits while drawing 12 walks. Headlining the offensive onslaught were Brad Hallock (two for three; two BBs), Lewis (two for three; one RBI), Tanner Tompkins (two for three; two BBs and one RBI), Ty Nekoliczak (two for three; one BB and one RBI) and Jaidan Quinn (two for four; two BBs and one RBI). All nine in Dupic’s starting lineup reached base at one point throughout the game.
Notably for Concordia, absent from the box score at the end of the game was any home runs. In fact, across the 28 runs the Bulldogs scored over the weekend, only one long ball was featured, courtesy of junior Jaeden Jordahl. This will be a trend worth watching as the season goes on as a diversified approach in the batters box could prove beneficial for a team that was typically reliant on the homer.
Overall, the 3-0 start to begin the season marks the best start to a season in the past two years. Previously in 2024, the Bulldogs 1-2 in their opening weekend series which was still an improvement over their 0-3 start in 2023. Nonetheless, both of those squads went on to win 40 games in the regular season – perhaps Concordia’s first ever 50 win season looms on the horizon.
Undefeated so far, Concordia will be back in action in Joplin, Missouri, where a Saturday, February 15 doubleheader versus Dakota State University and Mission University gives way to a Sunday doubleheader versus Graceland University and William Penn University.
