Sower sports roundup, March 9

Maddy Peters, Sports Editor

If you missed Concordia University Nebraska Sports this weekend, here is what happened.

The men and women’s basketball teams both found out that they qualified for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Championship Tournament. The men will travel to Salina, Kan. for the first two rounds of play while the women host the opening round games. The men face Indiana University Northwest on March 15 at 6 p.m., and the women face Benedictine College the same day and time.

The Concordia Cheer and Dance teams participated in the Great Plains Athletic Conference Cheer and Dance Championships from March 8-9 with dance performing on the 8 and cheer on the 9. Dance placed sixth with a score of 81.89 and cheer placed fifth with a score of 80.73.

Two Bulldogs from each team received All-GPAC awards at the championships. From the dance team, sophomore Ryleigh Flesner received First Team All-GPAC honors and freshman Hannah Bitner received Honorable Mention All-GPAC recognition. For cheer, senior Shelby Timmerman and sophomore Bri Hoyle both received First Team All-GPAC honors.

The Concordia baseball team finished up their Florida spring break with the Warner Invite in Lake Wales, Fla. playing five games from March 7-9. The team beat the Calumet College of St. Joseph Crimson Wave (6-2), the Lawrence Technological University Blue Devils (13-4), the Siena Heights University Saints (6-4), and the Warner University Royals (4-1), but lost to the University of the Cumberlands Patriots (6-4). The team is now 16-5 and next plays Doane University on March 16 at home.

Senior Joey Grabanski led the team to the win against St. Joseph. The team’s heavy hitter ended the game with three RBIs including a home run, his 66th career. Fellow senior Bradley Hallock also had an excellent hit with a double that sent two Bulldogs to home plate. Senior Caden Johnson was the pitcher credited with the win, going five hits for two runs, sevens strikeouts and recording two errors.

Senior Alec Blakestad was the star of the second game hitting two home runs and recording three RBIs. Concorda simply overwhelmed the Blue Devils, scoring in almost every inning except the fourth. Sophomore Jack Nelson, junior Jaidan Quinn and senior Jose Cevallos also hit a home run each in the game. Senior Blake Benson was the pitcher credited with the win, going six hits for one run, three strikeouts and recording one error.

The third game against Siena Heights was a much tougher battle. Almost all the runs were scored in the third inning including a home run by senior Jay Adams. The Saints nearly caught up with the Bulldogs, but the team managed to stay ahead and maintain the lead. Junior Qwin Zabokrtsky was the pitcher credited with the win, going eight hits for four runs, three strikeouts and recording four errors.

Concordia faced a tough, defensive battle against the Royals in their fourth game. The game was scoreless till the top of the eighth when Hallock homered to put the Bulldogs ahead. Warner responded with a run in the bottom of the inning, but that was all they could muster. The Bulldogs finally broke through the defenses and scored another three runs in the top of the ninth to win the game. Junior Christian Gutierrez was the pitcher credited with the win going five hits for one run, nine strikeouts and recording one error.

The final game of the Warner Invite was for all the marbles as the Bulldogs faced the no. 8 Patriots in a delayed game Saturday evening. The team was down for pretty much the entire game, even with Grabanski hitting a home run in the third and sending another runner home in the sixth with a double. Junior Logan Fragomeni was the pitcher credited with the loss, going two hits for zero runs, two strikeouts and no errors.

The Concordia softball team finished up the Tucson Invite with two games on March 7 against the Valley City State University Vikings and the University of Saint Francis Fighting Saints. They split the day winning 7-2 against the Vikings and losing 1-0 to the Fighting Saints. The team was scheduled to play two more games on March 8, but they were canceled due to weather. The team is now 8-12 and next plays a double header against Nebraska Wesleyan University on March 13 in Lincoln.

Concordia racked up their runs in just the third and fourth innings with junior Jennifer Katz hitting a triple in both of them. The team scored two runs in the third and five in the fourth. Junior Megan Eurich was the pitcher credited with the win going 11 hits for two runs, six strikeouts and recording one error.

Saint Francis was a much different game for Concordia. Junior Aubrey Brunning was the only Bulldog to get a hit off Fighting Saints pitcher Jordan Closs. Freshman Kaylei Denison was the pitcher credited with the loss, going eight hits for one run, four strikeouts and recording one error.