LINCOLN, Neb. — Dakota Wesleyan Baseball faced the Concordia (Neb.) Bulldogs and the Morningside Mustangs in their second and third contests of the Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournament, splitting contests and managing to advance to the third day of competition.
The first game saw the Tigers square off against the second-seeded Bulldogs in a contest that would be immediately in favor of the host school, as they were able to grab the first run of the game on a wild pitch with runners in scoring position. Concordia slowly built a lead as the contest continued, and even though Caleb Meyers would record five strikeouts in his 5.2 innings pitched, a series of big hits would leave Dakota Wesleyan at a disadvantage. Nate Huisken and Colton Thomas made appearances in relief as well for the Tigers, but the Bulldogs were still able to trickle in runs as the contest continued.
Dakota Wesleyan would get on the board in the sixth inning after an RBI single to right-center field from Mason Riley, getting Dexter Payne across home plate, but the built-up lead from CUNE would end the contest after seven innings, 12-1. With the double elimination format, the Tigers dropped to the bottom side of the bracket, where they would face the Morningside Mustangs, whom they had knocked off the day before in the opening contest.
In the evening window, DWU was able to flip the script with a potent offensive attack from the first inning against the Mustangs, posting two runs initially with RBIs from Payne and Talan Ball. The Mustangs responded with two runs of their own, but the Tigers took a commanding lead in the second inning by posting seven runs, as C. Meyers, Kelbee Woodham, and Payne would record RBIs before Riley blasted a grand slam to right field to clear the bases, pushing DWU’s lead to 9-2. The Mustangs posted a third run, but the Tigers continued to dominate offensively with another RBI single from Payne and a second home run on the first pitch of the at-bat from Riley, marking his fifth RBI of the contest.
Ean Laird pushed the score to 13-3 with a two-run homer of his own over the left-field wall before Shane Cowan and Joe Tharaldson recorded RBI singles, pushing the Tiger lead all the way to 16-3. On the mound, Alex Mizsak would put together a solid six-inning appearance, earning the win with two recorded strikeouts while generating weak contact from the Mustang opposition. Morningside added a couple more runs to the board, but Lucas Koepsell would close the seventh inning for the Tigers with a tallied strikeout and end the contest in the seventh inning via run rule. With the win, the Tigers advance to the semifinal round of the full GPAC bracket and the championship round of the Concordia Bracket.
DWU Baseball will face the hosting Concordia Bulldogs tomorrow (May 1) at 3:00 PM for a chance to advance to the 2026 GPAC Championship Series. In the double elimination format, the Tigers will need to beat the Bulldogs in two consecutive contests to move on and face the winner of the other side of the bracket.