Posted: Jan 31, 2023

Webster Leads SLIAC Baseball Poll

Nationally ranked Webster University is the SLIAC Baseball preseason favorite. League coaches voted the Gorloks the top team, receiving 49 total points and seven first-place votes. The Gorloks went 38-8 last year, advancing to the regionals. Head Coach Bill Kurich brings back a veteran team with seven position player starters and the entire starting pitching staff. The lineup will be built around grad student Ben Swords and sophomore Evan Evola. Swords, a third baseman, batted .337 with 8 home runs and 44 runs batted in while earning All-Region honors. Evola was the SLIAC Player and Newcomer of the Year after hitting .409 with 8 home runs and 49 RBI at his designated hitter spot. The lineup continues with four more All-Conference hitters in Parker Wielt (.350/6/39), Nathaniel Martinez (.355/3/21), Matt Staker (.315/2/25), and R.J. LaRocco (.337/3/23). On the mound, the Gorloks will hand the ball over to an experienced staff led by three All-Region pitchers. Alek Elges led the team in innings pitches last season, going 9-2 with a 3.21 earned-run average. Jordan Smevoll was 6-2 with a 2.88 E.R.A. while Ben Kowalski was 10-2 with a 3.15 E.R.A. Carter Hunt, a Third Team All-Conference pitcher, fills out the rotation after going 5-0 last spring. Newcomers to the program are transfers Charlie Burton and Adam Hill and freshman Sam Turilli.

Spalding University was chosen second on the poll with 42 total points and one first-place vote. No team information was provided.

Fontbonne University received 38 total points after going 25-15 overall last season. The Griffins are coached by Ryan Good and return seven starters and 35 players. The pitching staff will be anchored by a pair of All-Conference pitchers in Nick Glaser and Gavin Kinworthy. Glaser, the SLIAC Pitcher of the Year, was 7-3 with a 2.74 earned-run average and 70 strikeouts over 72.1 innings pitched. Kinworthy went 9-4 with 61 strikeouts last year. The offense will have to replace a pair of mainstays in Daniel Youngblood and Braedon Dobbs put have four All-Conference hitters to do the job. Colby Shivers earned All-Region honors after hitting .339 with 6 home runs and 28 runs batted in last season; adding eight stolen bases. Trey Kueper batted .385 with 2 home runs and 18 RBI and drew more walks than strikeouts. Matt Helm finished with a .394 average and led the conference with 11 home runs and 52 RBI in his first collegiate season. Thomas Purshke tallied a .338 average with 2 home runs and 36 RBI line last spring. Top newcomers are a pair of pitchers (Jack Andrews and Ben Bisig) and catcher Dalton Groves.

Greenville University totaled 27 points, coming in 4th on the poll. The Panthers were 19-24 overall last season but head coach Lynn Carlson returns 27 players and nine starters. Among the starters coming back is All-Conference shortstop Drew Frey. Frey, a senior, hit .339 with 2 home runs and 30 RBI with 21 stolen bases. He will be backed in the batting order by senior Landon Mokris, who hit .298 with 5 home runs and 36 RBI. Trent Morgenstern and Tanner Gerdes will fill out the lineup. Perhaps more importantly the Panthers return their top three innings eaters on the mound. Luke Fleener worked 64.2 innings last spring, going 4-4 with a 4.59 earned-run average. Jaxen Gibson was 5-4 over 63.2 innings of work and Braden Maltbie threw a total of 51.1 innings and led the team with 47 strikeouts. One familiar face that will be new in the Panthers jersey is All-Conference outfielder Dylan Hill, who joins the team after playing the previous two years at Eureka College. Hill hit .298 last season with 9 home runs and 29 RBI. Other players to watch that are new to the program are Logan Doll, Jacob Sutton, Snyder Pennington, and Elijah Kjellberg.

Westminster College finishes 5th in the poll with 23 points. The Blue Jays were 11-23 last season and first-year head coach Jake Jourdain welcomes back 24 players and six starters. The lineup includes three All-Conference hitters. Quin Adelson led the team with a .388 batting average last year, adding 5 home runs and 18 RBI. Steven Diaz hit .318 with a team-high 8 home runs while driving in 24 with 13 stolen bases and is one of the league's top gloves in the outfield. Payton Whitehead hit .318 with 2 home runs and 17 RBI and finished with a .421 on-base percentage, drawing a team-best 17 walks. Also back is Matt Lukins who hit .303 with 3 home runs and 13 RBI as a freshman. Bode Gebbink will take the ball as the team's top pitcher after going 3-3 last year, striking out 52 batters in 56 innings pitched; earning Third Team All-Conference honors. Trent Morrow is also back after leading the team in innings pitched last spring.

Eureka College totaled 22 points, placing 6th on the poll. The Red Devils are coached by Jerry Rashid and went 16-22 last year. They bring back six starters and 13 players headlined by First Team All-Conference infielder and All-Region performer Braden Cox. Cox hit .400 with 9 home runs and 49 RBI last season, compiling a .686 slugging percentage. Karter Hostetler, Nick Rulevish, and Austin Davis will provide support for Cox. Hostetler batted .386 with 3 home runs and 31 RBI while Davis hit .316 with 15 RBI. Rulevish played in 31 games as a freshman and finished with 25 hits while drawing 17 walks and striking out just 10 times. Nathan Garard will lead the pitching staff again after going 5-5 and finishing with 66 strikeouts in 64.2 innings pitched. Mike Dunne is a transfer that will team up with Garard to give the team innings while fellow transfers Chase Ulrich and Cole Tanner will fill out the lineup.

Blackburn College picked up 16 points, placing 7th on the poll. They were 10-28 overall last season and head coach Mike Neal returns six starters and 17 players. Among the returners is All-Conference performer, senior Adam Holm. Holm hit .418 with 4 home runs, 27 RBI, and stolen bases while scoring 41 runs and finishing with 15 doubles. The team has a couple of young hitters that showed promise last year in Andrew Lozano and RJ Arredondo. Lozano hit .298 with 3 home runs and 35 RBI while Arredondo batted .287 with 20 RBI and was named the team's newcomer of the year. Jason Hedges, Alex Coffman, and Skyler McManus will be a few of the arms on the mound. Coffman was second on the team in innings pitched with 48.1 with Hedges working 33 innings last year, striking out 30 and McManus making seven appearances. New faces to the team are Andrew Garza, Isaac Gleaves, Ashton Harvey, and Pedro Medina.

Principia College rounds out the poll, totaling seven points. Head Coach Chris Marston returns five starters from last year's squad that went 2-23 overall. The Panthers will have to replace Jack Adler, their leading hitter and starting shortstop. Juniors Tim Eissler and Ryan D'Amico will be the new faces for the team. Eissler, a first baseman, played in all 25 games last season and totaled 16 hits with a team-high five stolen bases. D'Amico, a catcher, was second on the team in RBI with six of his 16 hits on the year being doubles. Salvador Flores batted .266 and tied for the team lead with 13 runs scored while also leading the team with 46.2 innings pitched on the mound. Casey Golbiw and Alejandro Zozaya both started every game as true freshmen last year and are expected to use that experience this spring.