Concordia baseball team ends GPAC tournament run with 16-3 game two loss against Briar Cliff
Senior pitcher Christian Gutierrez steadies himself for the next pitch (photo from previous game).
Photo credit: Cohen Carpenter
By Kai Olbrich
The Concordia University baseball team was knocked out of the Great Plains Athletic Conference tournament in a 16-3 game two against the Briar Cliff Chargers, courtesy of a 14-run Briar Cliff fourth inning. The Bulldogs forced the second game by winning the first one 6-5.
The series on May 3 was the decider for who would play in the GPAC final. Concordia already had a loss against Briar Cliff in the tournament, so the Chargers just needed one win in the series to knock off the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs held strong in the first game, winning 6-5. Much of the success can be credited to senior Cristian Gutierrez, who pitched all nine innings for the Bulldogs. Gutierrez allowed five runs on six hits, walked two, and struck out five.
On offense, it was sophomore Matthew Rhoades who would take the acclaim. With two outs and the bases loaded in the second inning, Rhoades sent the ball long over the right fielder for a grand slam. Seniors Tanner Tompkins and Bradley Hallock each had an RBI.
The Bulldogs were able to survive a fourth-inning comeback attempt from the Chargers and keep their GPAC tournament hopes alive for the final game of the series.
All started well enough for the Bulldogs in game two, with each team picking up an occasional run, but with the score level at 2-2 at the end of the fifth inning.
The Bulldog defense fell apart, however, in the top of the sixth inning. The Chargers put up 14 runs against four different Bulldog pitchers off the back of 10 hits and two Concordia errors.
Concordia went to the Bullpen seven times throughout the game after opening with junior Jake Nelms. Nelms went 1.1 innings in which he allowed one run off one hit, walked two, and struck out two. Sophomore Sam Rambajan came in for 1.2 innings and gave up two hits, no runs, and struck out two. Junior Ernie Snyder didn’t allow any hits and walked one, senior Logan Fragomeni and junior Aaron Petty each pitched one inning and gave up one run. Senior Maverick Wylder gave up two runs, junior Cameron Pickens conceded four off three hits, and freshman Kade Spomer fell victim to six hits that converted seven runs.
A bright spot for the Bulldogs was senior Jaiden Quinn, who increased his home-run tally to 97 all-time with a solo homer in the fifth inning.
The game ended 16-3, which is tied for the worst defeat of the season for Concordia. The Bulldogs are now 40-11, but despite losing out in GPAC, they still have more baseball to play. The team won the regular season automatic bid and will host the first round of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics baseball tournament at Sherman Field in Lincoln, Nebraska, starting on May 12.
