By: Alex Robson
McPHERSON, Kan. — In a season full of highs and lows, the Bulldogs ride into Joplin, Missouri looking to return to the top of the KCAC as they look to win their first conference tournament since the 2023 season.
A LOOK AT THE 'DOGS
The trend of high octane offense powering forward the Bulldogs continued in 2025. The Bulldogs, led by the great bats of
Marcus Patton,
Jace Essig, and
Peyton Starr come into the tournament boasting one of the top offenses in the KCAC as they enter with the fourth most RBIs (363) and the fifth best team batting average (.312).
Extra base hits have also been a strong point as the Bulldogs have hit for 175 total extra base hits and 76 homeruns, both ranking as the fifth most in the conference. One point of struggle for the bats has been striking out as the MC batters have struck out 406 times this year, the second most in the KCAC only trailing York.
Pitching has been less consistent this year as, despite some strong showings, there have also been some real struggles. The Bulldogs enter the tournament with a team ERA of 7.75 which puts them seventh in the conference. The pitching staff does have the second most strikeouts in the conference (425), free passes have been given out at a frequent rate as the Bulldogs have surrendered the most walks in the entire conference (321).
BULLDOGS VS THE FIELD
In a season full of mixed results, the one thing that remained consistent was that this Bulldogs quad was not going to quit against anybody and you were going to get their best shot. The only team in the tournament MC was not able to secure at least one victory against is top seeded Oklahoma Wesleyan, but those losses came in games where the final score looked more like a football game.
Four of the other seven teams in the tournament, the Bulldogs took the series against as they got two wins against three seeded Ottawa, five seeded Tabor, seven seeded Friends, and eight seeded Avila. While they did lose the series against both two seeded Kansas Wesleyan and four seeded York, MC was able to collect at least one victory against them both.
THE BRACKET
The eight teams that have made it to the conference tournament have been split into two different pods. Joining the Bulldogs in their pod are two seed Kansas Wesleyan, three seed Ottawa, and seven seed Friends.
If the Bulldogs secure a victory in their first round game against the Braves, they will advance to play the winner of the matchup between Kansas Wesleyan and Friends. If they win that game, they will only need to win one more game to advance to the championship game. If MC any matchup at any point in their pod, they will then need to win out in their pod to avoid elimination.
ROUND TWO AGAINST THE BRAVES
One of the highlights of the 2025 season for the Bulldogs was their series victory against the Braves of Ottawa, who will be MC's first round matchup. The Braves entered all three contests against the Bulldogs ranked in the NAIA's top 25 poll, but MC did not care one bit about the rankings. In the first matchup, the Bulldogs held off a strong comeback attempt by Ottawa and secured a 13-12 road victory.
The clutch performances against Ottawa continued in the second game as in a wild back and forth matchup,
Dawson Walters played hero as he launched a walkoff solo homerun in the bottom of the ninth to secure a 15-14 win. Ottawa finally contained the high power offense of MC in the third and final matchup as they secured a 5-2 victory.
Statistically, these two teams are nearly dead even offensively as both feature high powered offenses. The biggest difference comes when you compare the pitching, as Ottawa's 5.40 team ERA is the third lowest in the conference.
