Grabanski scores three home runs in double-header sweep against Hastings
Senior outfielder Joey Grabanski (19) on second base.
Photo credit: Josiah Seabaugh (photo from previous game)
By Maddy Peters, Sports Editor
The Concordia baseball team swept their double header against the Hastings College Broncos Sunday afternoon, winning the first game 16-5 and shutting out the second 16-0.
Senior Joey Grabanski had an insane day going 7-8 at bat, scoring five runs including three home runs and recording 12 RBIs between the two games. The national home run record holder became the first player in National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics history to hit 80 career home runs with a four-run bomb in the third inning of the first game.
Play against Hastings started off strong for the Bulldogs with a five-run first inning that set the team squarely in the lead. After a scoreless second inning, Concordia came out swinging for the third, scoring eight runs including the aforementioned Grabanski homer. Junior Tanner Tompkins had a two-run home run earlier in the inning to aid the scoring efforts.
In the next inning, Grabanski fired off his 81st home run to score the last three points of the game with a three-run grand slam.
Junior pitcher Braxton Greenburg kept the game scoreless for the Bulldogs till the fifth inning when he tired out and walked the Broncos through the bases. His reliever, sophomore Ernie Snyder did his best with the situation, but let a few more runs go through in the top of the sixth.
Greenburg finished the day with the win, going two hits for three runs, six strikeouts and recording three errors. Snyder meanwhile had four hits for two runs, five strikeouts and recorded two errors.
Game two started out with a one-point lead for the first half of the game as senior Alec Blakestad hit a sacrifice fly to give his teammate senior Jay Adams the chance to score. All hell broke loose in the fourth inning for the Bulldogs with a 10-point inning as Hastings was forced to switch pitchers twice to combat the onslaught.
With the lead firmly in hand, Adams hit a double and Grabanski hit an 82nd home run to send the point home. Adams’ double sent junior Jimmy Blumberg to score, and Grabanski’s third homer was another three-run bomb.
Junior Christian Gutierrez was the only pitcher Concordia needed for the shutout playing all seven innings. He only had four hits against him with no walks and seven strikeouts.
The team is now 31-12 overall and 15-7 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference. The team next plays the University of Jamestown in Jamestown, N.D. for a rescheduled game on April 22 due to cold weather with first pitch scheduled at 2 p.m.
