Baseball Wins First Tournament Title Since 2011

Doane Baseball capped a historic run through Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) play on Tuesday evening as the Tigers claimed the 2023 GPAC Tournament title with a 1-0 win over No. 24 Concordia. It is the third tournament title in program history as this year's team joined the squads from 2002 and 2011 in winning the tournament. The Tigers improved to 42-10 on the season, tying the school record for wins.

The game, originally scheduled for Crete during the afternoon, was moved to Lincoln and under the lights due to a thunderstorm that pushed through the area during the middle of the afternoon. Doane and Concordia met at Den Hartog Field and both teams brought a strong following.

The top two offenses in the GPAC were held in check on the day by stellar pitching. Both teams were sent down in order in the first inning. Concordia picked up two hits in the second inning while Doane had one only to see the runners stranded on base. The third inning was similar to the first with three up, three down.

Aaron Forrest had his third three-batter inning in the fourth and then received all the offense he needed on the night in the bottom of the inning. Lukas White opened the inning with a single and Coach Josh Oltmans, knowing the way the game had been playing out that one run was going to be important, went to the bench and pinch ran Logan Amick. Nate Mensik followed with a double to put two runners on base to set up Luke LaChance. LaChance hit a ground ball to second which was enough to plate Amick for the only run of the game.

Concordia stranded a runner in the fifth while Doane left three on. Forrest had another 1-2-3 inning in the sixth and Doane, again, stranded three runners on base. In the seventh, the Bulldogs were sent down in order while Doane had one hit, a double from Nate Mensik.

In the eighth inning, the Bulldogs started with a base hit but a 4-6-3 double play erased the base runner. Concordia would add another hit in the inning but were kept off the scoreboard. Doane also stranded a runner in the bottom of the inning.

Forrest took the mound in the ninth inning and Concordia started out with a single. Two fly ball outs later, Doane was within striking distance for the tournament title. However, a walk and a hit by pitch loaded the bases and the Tigers turned to Jake Johnson. On a 3-ball, 2-strike pitch, Johnson was able to induce a ground ball to LaChance and he threw to first base to end the ball game.

For the game, Forrest threw 105 pitches as he covered 8.2 innings. He allowed five hits, two walks, a hit batter, and struck out five as he improved to 10-2 on the season and broke the school record for wins in a season. Jake Johnson closed the door, retiring the one batter he faced to pick up his second save of the season.

Concordia used three pitchers to cover 8.0 innings and held Doane to six hits and 11 strikeouts. Mensik finished the game going 2-for-4 with two doubles.

Next up for the Tigers will be the NAIA Opening Round Tournament. Pairings will be announced on Thursday afternoon.