Men’s baseball goes 1-1 over weekend games in Kansas City versus Dickinson State and William Penn

Alec Blakstad steps up to bat at home plate (photo from previous game).

Photo credit: Josiah Seabaugh

By Kai Olbrich

The Concordia Nebraska men’s baseball team went 1-1 in Kansas City, Kansas on Feb. 28 as they defeated Dickinson State 2-1 but fell to William Penn 13-8.

The first game of the day was the high-scoring loss to William Penn. Both teams started off hot from the batter’s box. Concordia had four runs in the top of the third inning to put the Bulldogs up 5-4, but William Penn responded right away with eight of their own off of five hits.

The game slowed down after the third with William Penn getting one more run in the fifth, and the Bulldogs getting runs in the fourth and fifth innings. It was not enough to battle back from the large deficit created, however, as the Bulldogs were bested 13-8.

The changes from the Bulldog bullpen echoed the high-scoring affair. Four pitches saw the mound for the Bulldogs. Sophomore Sam Rambajan gave up one hit and struck out two in his two innings; junior Jake Nelms conceded one run and struck out one batter in his lone inning, junior Ernie Snyder gave up four earned runs on four hits, and senior Christian Gutierrez who was given the loss had eight runs scored during his two innings.

There were still positives for the Bulldogs who, while not getting the win, performed well offensively. Junior Jaeden Jordhal led the team with a three-run home run, sophomore Matthew Rhoades had two runs and one RBI; helped by a solo home run; sophomore Alex Draper and senior Bradley Hallock each had one run, two RBIs and a home run; seniors Ty Nekoliczak, Jaidan Quinn, and Jimmy Blumberg all had one run.

The second game of the day was different in nearly all respects to the first as the Bulldogs came out on top against Dickinson State by a much lower score of 2-1.

The breakthrough for Concordia came in the bottom of the third inning. Nekoliczak reached first base off of a fielder’s choice; Quinn then homered to center field for a two-run home run. Those were Concordia’s only runs of the game, but they were able to hang onto a narrow lead despite Dickinson getting one run in the sixth inning.

This game was much more consistent from the mound with just two pitchers being utilized for the Bulldogs. Graduate Student Alex Johnson got the start and the win with four innings pitched. Johnson gave up just three hits, zero runs, and struck out nine. Junior Daiten Schmidt came in for the final three innings and gave up just one run on two hits while striking out five.

The Bulldogs will finish the weekend with a rematch of both games on March 1. They will play Dickinson State at 11 a.m. and William Penn at 4 p.m.