Jimmies fall 7-6 in GPAC final heartbreaker at Concordia

SEWARD, NEB — The University of Jamestown’s hopes of their first conference crown since 2019 were dashed in heartbreaking fashion in a 7-6 loss to Concordia University in 10 innings on Tuesday, May 10 in Seward, Nebraska.

"That was a high level college baseball game," Jimmies head coach Tom Hager said. "It was two really good teams throwing punch for punch and unfortunately we came out on the short end. I couldn't be more proud of how my guys fought and battled. This is a tremendous group of people and they gave me everything they had tonight."

The No. 2-seeded Bulldogs (36-15-1) broke through in the bottom of the third when Joey Grabanski singled up the middle to score Ty Nekoliczak and make it 1-0. The next batter was Jesse Garcia who hit a single off the end of the bat to bring home Jay Adams and push the lead out to 2-0.

The No.5-seeded Jimmies (29-23) put up a crooked number in the fifth when Tayler Cullen hit a line drive solo shot to cut the deficit to 2-1. The Jimmies tied the game up when Quade Peters chopped a ball to the third baseman Jaidan Quinn whose throw got past the first baseman, Garcia allowing Isaiah Roebuck to score and tie the game up at two.

The Bulldogs retook the lead in the bottom of the fifth when Garcia reached on an error from Reece Mckenzie allowing Teyt Johnson to score and push the home team back out in front 3-2.

The Bulldogs' lead didn’t last very long as Cullen continued to put the team on his back with a single right up the middle to bring Orejudos home and tie the game up at three.

The Bulldogs pushed back ahead in the sixth when Adams hit a bloop single into left to make it a 4-3 game. The Bulldogs were not finished however as Grabanski lined a double off the wall in right to plate two more and stretch the lead out to 6-3.

The Jimmies were not laying down though as Kendall Yackley lined a single to left to cut the deficit to 6-4. Later in the inning, the Jimmies’ Tanner Shepard came up clutch with a two-run double to right-center to tie the game up at six.

The score would stay that way until the bottom of the tenth, when Adams walked it off with a single to left to score Carlos Benevides and give the Bulldogs a 7-6 win.

The Jimmies now have to wait until 4 p.m. on Thursday, May 12, to see if they will get an at-large bid in the NAIA tournament.

UJ 6, CUNE 7

UJ: 0 0 0 0 2 1 3 0 0 0–6 11 1

CUNE: 0 0 2 0 1 3 0 0 0 1–7 10 2

Scoring plays:

Third inning:

CUNE: Joey Grabanski RBI single, Ty Nekoliczak scores

CUNE: Jesse Garcia RBI single, Jay Adams scores

Fifth inning:

UJ: Tayler Cullen solo HR

UJ: Quade Peters RBI single, Roebuck scores

CUNE: Garcia reaches on an error by Reece Mckenzie, Teyt Johnson scores, unearned

Sixth inning:

UJ: Cullen RBI single, Xander Orejudos scores

CUNE: Adams RBI single, Nekoliczak scores

CUNE: Grabanski 2 RBI double, Adams, Johnson score

Seventh inning:

UJ: Kendall Yackley RBI single, Andrew Kupec scores, unearned

UJ: Tanner Shepard 2 RBI double, Yackley, Peters score unearned

Tenth inning:

CUNE: Adams RBI single, Carlos Benavides scores

WP: Jacob Lycan (3-2) LP: Hayden Brown (2-1)