SLIAC Baseball Tournament Field Set
| SLIAC Tournament At A Glance - 2023 SLIAC Baseball Tournament Page | |||||
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The 2023 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament starts up this week with quarterfinal games on school campuses before moving to Car Shield Field in O'Fallon, Missouri for the semifinal and championship rounds. The top two seeds (Spalding and Webster) in the conference earned first-round byes with Fontbonne University and Greenville University hosting quarterfinal action. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for those under 16 years of age. Both the semifinal round as well as the championship game with be broadcast live with College Casts. |
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| #1 Webster University - FIRST ROUND BYE | |||||
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Gorloks by the Numbers
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A Look at the Gorloks Webster wrapped up its 16th consecutive regular season SLIAC title and enter the tournament on a 12-game winning streak. The Gorloks are hitting .331 as a team this spring, averaging 8.9 runs per game. They rank 2nd in the league with 54 home runs and 3rd in stolen bases with 54. The Gorlok pitching staff carries a 3.77 team earned-run average, holding opponents to a .253 average. Parker Wielt has taken his game to the next level this year, hitting .425 with 9 home runs and 48 RBI with a .713 slugging percentage and more walks than strikeouts. Evan Evola has followed up his 2022 Player of the Year campaign by hitting .331 with 10 home runs and 36 RBI. Seniors Ben Swords (.368), Charlie Burton (.340), and Matt Staker (.321) continue the Gorlok depth. On the mound, Alek Elges and Jordan Smevoll lead the way with Joel Arsenault and Ben Kowalski coming out of the pen, although Kowalski has started three times over the last two weeks. |
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| #2 Spalding University - FIRST ROUND BYE | |||||
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GoldenEagles by the Numbers
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A Look at the Golden Eagles Spalding wrapped up the regular season with a seven-game winning streak, reaching the 30-win plateau for the first time in a season since 2019. The Golden Eagles boast the top pitching staff in the league, with a 3.72 earned-run average and four shutouts and the second-best offense with a .337 average and 368 runs scored. Hunter Strong leads the team with a .397 average and is tied for the team lead with 6 home runs while driving in 44. Michael Newsom sets the table for the lineup, hitting .384 with 58 runs scored and swiping 24 bags. The Golden Eagles have seven hitters above .300 and more than 100 at-bats as well as seven batters with 26 or more RBI. The pitching staff is led by Caleb Collins, who has 79 strikeouts in his 74.2 innings pitched. Garrett Mathews is second on the team with 51 innings while four more arms are ready to take to the ball with more than 30 innings pitched. |
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| #3 - Fontbonne University vs. #6 Eureka College - Tuesday, May 9 in St. Louis, Mo. - 12 p.m. | |||||
| Series Record: Fontbonne leads the series 38-9 Season Series: Fontbonne won 2-1 Last Meeting: (3/19-20/23) G1: FBU def. EC, 5-2 / G2: EC def. FBU, 7-4 / G3: FBU def. EC, 14-2 |
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Griffins by the Numbers
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A Look at the Griffins The Griffins rank in the middle of the league on offense with 341 runs scored and hitting .320 as a team. Matt Helm anchors the lineup, hitting .432 with 7 home runs and 48 RBI. Colby Shivers is batting .383 with 37 RBI and a .584 slugging percentage. Ty Kueper is batting .359 with a .503 on-base percentage. Thomas Purschke and Kameron Brooks are both hitting above .300 this spring with Purschke adding 5 home runs. Carter Lee leads the team with 13 home runs in addition to his .298 average and 47 RBI. The pitching staff holds a 5.98 earned-run average and is paced by Gavin Kinworthy. The sophomore is 8-4 on the season with a 3.18 earned-run average and 96 strikeouts in 79.1 innings. Nick Glaser, the reigning SLIAC Pitcher of the Year, has struck out 60 in his 67 innings of work. |
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Red Devils by the Numbers
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A Look at the Red Devils Eureka is back in the tournament for a program record third straight year. The Red Devils won 9 conference games this year, their most since the 2010 season. They are averaging 4.9 runs per game this season, hitting .270 as a team. Nick Rulevish leads the team with a .339 average, scoring 25 runs and recording a .398 on-base percentage. Chase Ulrich leads the team with 29 RBI while hitting .322 with 3 home runs. Braden Cox has a team-high 4 home runs while Cole Tanner and Mike Dunne are both hitting above .300 this season. The pitching staff is 6th in the league with a 6.68 earned-run average with opponents hitting .270. A trio of arms has carried the staff this year. Ryan Bredeson and Nathan Garard have both thrown 65.1 innings. Dunne has a team-high 73 strikeouts in his 58.2 innings of work. |
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| #4 Westminster College vs. #5 Greenville University - Tuesday, May 9 in Fulton, Mo. | |||||
| Series Record: Greenville leads the series 49-38 Season Series: Greenville won 3-0 Last Meeting: (3/30/23-4/1/23) G1: GU def. WC, 21-8 / G2: GU def. WC, 8-7 / G3: GU def. WC, 9-7 |
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Blue Jays by the Numbers
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A Look at the Blue Jays The Blue Jays have won 6 of their last 8 games, pushing their win total to 23 this season; the most for the program since 2016. They are hitting a league-high .338 as a team and scored a SLIAC-best 387 runs this season. The lineup has 55 home runs, one shy of the conference record, while also leading the league with 68 stolen bases. Skyler Bushey is at the forefront of the Blue Jays' power surge, hitting 16 home runs to go along with his 56 RBI and .370 batting average. Quin Adleson is also in double digits with 10 home runs while Coltin Green (7), Steven Diaz (8), and Spencer Keiser (6) continue the power threat. Troy Romero is hitting .338 and is 3rd in the SLIAC with 17 steals. The pitching staff boasts a trio of workhorses in Bode Gebbink, Derek Archer, and Trent Morrow; with all three over 48 innings pitched. |
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Panthers by the Numbers
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A Look at the Panthers The Panthers recorded their first winning conference record since 2019 but come into the tournament on a six-game losing streak. The Panthers are hitting .301 as a team, averaging 7.7 runs per game. They rank 4th in the league with 26 home runs. Landon Mokris is the centerpiece of the lineup, leading the SLIAC in average (.447) and RBI (63) with 10 home runs. There is more danger than just the senior infielder however as George Schneider is batting .374 and Snyder Pennington is hitting .372. The Panthers have four players with more than 20 RBI this year and seven players that have gone deep. Luke Fleener anchors the pitching staff, carrying a 2.76 E.R.A. in his 65.1 innings while striking out 62. Five more arms have worked at least 28 innings with Braden Maltibe and Dylan Boehm both averaging more than 10 strikeouts per nine innings. |
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