Sioux Center, Iowa — The Defenders dropped game one of a GPAC doubleheader to visiting Concordia 9-2.
Dordt scored both its runs in the bottom of the third inning to take a 2-0 lead. Logan Cline was hit-by-pitch, advanced to second after a Concordia failed pickoff attempt, went to third on a groundout hit by Luke November and scored after wild pitch. Anthony Klinzing, Dylan Stanley and Aaron Eshelman followed with three consecutive singles, all with two outs, with the final one by Eshelman scoring Klinzing from second.
Concordia answered with four runs in the top of the fourth on a grand slam hit by Tanner Tompkins after singles by Keaton Candor and Jesse Garcia and walk to Alec Blakestad.
With the score still 4-2, Concordia plated five runs off three home runs in the top of the seventh to put the game away. Tompkins hit his second home run of the game, a three-run shot, while Cando and Joey Grabanski hit back-to-back solo shots.
The Defenders were outhit 10-6; all six Dordt hits were singles while Concordia tallied five extra-base hits
Six different Dordt players had one hit; Cline, November, Klinzing, Stanley, Eshelman and Logan DeVries
Eshelman had the lone RBI
Logan Horne (2-7) allowed eight hits, seven earned runs; the senior totaled 11 strikeouts
Alex Johnson (6-0) stayed unbeaten, allowing five hits and one earned run in 6.1 innings to earn the win for Concordia
Tompkins led the Bulldogs at the plate with seven RBIs and two home runs
The Dordt Defenders lost a 14-5 decision to Concordia in GPAC play on Saturday afternoon in a windswept Sioux Center, Iowa.
Aided by gusty wins the visitors scored three in the first, four in the second and four in the third to build an 11-1 lead with Dordt’s run coming in the bottom of the first when Logan Cline lifted a fly ball that caught the wind and traveled over the rightfield fence.
Dordt got more offense in the fourth inning when Logan De Vries singled in Kaden Davis and Dylan Stanley. Parker Hamann followed with his first homerun of the season to cut the difference to 11-5. After a scoreless top of the fifth Dordt got a leadoff single by Chase Edwards and he advanced to third on a ground out. Edwards was stranded there with a pair of strikeouts ending the inning.
Concordia added three runs late in the game to make the final 14-5.
Dordt used seven batters with Dylan Brown proving to be most effective as he went four and two-third innings and was charged with an unearned run on four hits and he struck out seven.
Chase Edwards, Kaden Davis and Logan De Vries all had two hits with De Vries knocking in two.
Dordt is now 12-28 overall and 8-16 in league play. Concordia is 18-6 in the conference and 29-12-1 overall.
Dordt is scheduled to pay a midweek non-conference game with Dakota State before concluding the regular season next weekend with four games at Northwestern.
