DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica baseball team returns to action this weekend when it plays four games in Illinois beginning with two in Chicago on Friday and then then two more over the weekend in the East St. Louis area.
Game Schedule:
Friday vs. UW-Oshkosh – 11 a.m. (Holmgren Athletic Complex-North Park)
Friday at North Park – 2 p.m.
Saturday vs. Concordia-Chicago – 3 p.m. (GCS Ballpark-Sauget, Ill.)
Sunday at Webster – 10 a.m. (GCS Ballpark)
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St. Scholastica Saints
Record: 7-4
Head Coach: Corey Kemp |
- The Saints are coming off a successful Spring Break trip where they went 6-1.
- Sophomore transfer
Tyler Duex (Bloomer, Wis./Chippewa Falls HS (UW-Superior) ) leads the team at the plate thus far this season with a .417 batting average.
- Junior
Padraic Getchell (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater HS (North Dakota) ) has a team-high eight RBIs and is followed by sophomore
Jordan Risse (Sioux Falls, S.D./Washington HS ) with seven runs batted in. Risse also has the team's lone home run this season.
- Junior
Jesse Heaton (Heyworth, Ill./Bloomington Central Catholic HS ) has 10 stolen bases already on the year, which is 12th in NCAA Division III.
-Senior
Parker Olson (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS (Minn.-Duluth)) has reached base safely in 10 straight games.
- Junior
Andy Davis (Chippewa Falls, Wis./McDonell HS ) has been stellar on the mound early in the season. He is 3-0 with 19 strikeouts and a 1.25 earned run average. His 9.5 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 23rd in the nation.
- Senior
Thomas Rogers (Cloquet, Minn./Cloquet HS ) has recorded two saves for the season and has a program-best 17 in his career.
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University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
2013 Record: 23-14
Head Coach: Kevin Tomasiewicz |
- The Titans will open their 2014 season Friday against the Saints. They will be guided by new head coach Kevin Tomasiewicz.
- The Titans ended their season 23-14 last year in the elimination round of the WIAC Championship against UW-Whitewater.
- The Titans are picked for fourth in the WIAC.
-Oshkosh returns six starters, including All-American Bobby Kachel who is back this season batting for the Titans after hitting .386 with 11 home runs and 55 RBIs last season.
- They also have All-WIAC selection Joe Pavlovich returning to the mound to pitch for the Titans.
Series History: (CSS is 1-10 vs. UW-Oshkosh)
-The Saints are hoping to take home another win after beating UW-Oshkosh for the first time 10-5 in 2008. That was the last time the two programs met. |
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North Park University Vikings
Record: 6-5
Head Coach: Luke Johnson |
- The Vikings enter the weekend on a three-game winning streak as they went 4-2 on their Spring Break trip in Florida.
- North Park ended last season with a 21-21 record. The Vikings' season ended with a 10-2 loss against Illinois Wesleyan in the elimination round of the CCIW Championship. That loss snapped a two-year CCIW Championship run
- On the mound, the Vikings return right-hander Alex Silverthorne and left hander Nick Soldano. Soldano was the 2012 CCIW Pitcher of the Year. Silverthorne is 2-0 this season with a team-high 15 strikeouts. Soldano has 14 strikeouts with a 1.47 ERA.
- At the plate, North Park has been led by Dan Sabin. Sabin is batting .452 with two home runs and 13 RBIs.
-Mike Coduto leads the team with 14 RBIs, while Eric Sousanes has a team-high 12 stolen bases.
Series History: (CSS is 1-0 vs. North Park)
The one-and-only meeting took place at the 2012 NCAA Regional Tournament. The Saints rallied to win 8-7. |
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#14 Concordia University-Chicago Cougars
Record: 9-2
Head Coach: Adam Smith |
- The Cougars have won their last five games, including a 6-5 win over the University of St. Thomas in Arizona.
-Concordia is ranked 14th in the D3baseball.com poll and 12th in the ABCA Division III poll. That is its highest-ever ranking in the season opening ABCA poll.
- The Cougars' season ended last year in the Regional Championship finals as they fell 7-3 to Webster University.
-The Cougars will return 23 lettermen from last year's team that went 39-7 and compiled a school-record 16-game winning streak along the way. Concordia-Chicago earned its third trip in five years to the NCAA III Regionals in Rock Island, Illinois and won three games after going 0-4 in its first two appearances.
-Concordia's final .848 winning percentage was recognized by the NCAA as the highest in all of Division III.
- The Cougars are picked to repeat as the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Champions.
- The Cougars are batting at .337 from the plate with Dan Eichholzer holding 15 RBIs along with Kyle Huber at 14 for the season.
-Senior pitcher Steve Cox was named a Preseason All-American by D3baseball.com. Cox was 13-for-13 in save opportunities last season.
Series History: (CSS is 0-1 vs. Concordia-Chicago)
-The Saints last played Concordia Chicago in 1996 where they came away with an 8-5 loss. |
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#6 Webster University Gorloks
Record: 5-2
Head Coach: Bill Kurich |
- Webster went 5-2 on its Spring Break trip last week in Florida, including wins over Wartburg and Marietta College.
- The Gorloks made their second straight NCAA Division III World Series appearance in 2013. They have finished fifth in both appearances.
- The 2013 Gorloks set the school record for wins (37). The team led the SLIAC offensively in runs, hits, batting average, triples, RBIs, walks, stolen bases, and finished second in doubles and home runs. On the mound, Webster led in ERA, fewest home runs allowed, fewest walks per inning, and was second in strikeouts.
-Webster has to replace ABCA Central Region Pitcher of the Year and All-American Steven Dooley, who graduated.
- Big RBI batters for the Gorlocks this year include Jared Turner with nine and Jeff Kammer with eight out of the teams 43 for the season.
-Ryan Hall leads the team at the plate with a .462 batting average.
-Dylan Dean Smith is 1-0 with a 2.51 earned run average in two starts this season. Bret Buchanan has two pitching saves on the season.
Series History: (CSS is 3-0 vs. Webster)
-The Saints have taken home three consecutive wins against Webster with the last being 13-2 in 2003. |
