Northern Athletics Conference Baseball Tournament website
MADISON, Wis. – After an exciting and highly competitive regular season, only four teams remain to vie for the Northern Athletics Conference Baseball Tournament title and the NCAA Tournament automatic bid that comes with it. Edgewood College earned the No. 1 seed after winning a tiebreaker with Rockford College who is the second seed. Concordia Wisconsin is the third seed after winning a tiebreak with No. 4 seed Aurora University and Concordia Chicago.
The entire tournament will be broadcast live on EdgewoodCollegeEagles.com. The NAC Baseball Tournament website will have live stats, recaps and postgame interviews.
No. 1 Edgewood College (27-13, 17-5 NAC)
In their last 12 games, the Eagles are 10-2, including a 10-1 mark in NAC play. Edgewood College needed to win its final two games with Lakeland College to qualify for the tournament and they accomplished the task with 3-1 and 7-4 victories to claim a share of the NAC Championship with Rockford College. The Eagles won the tiebreaker and earned the first seed in the tournament. In terms of earned run average, the Eagles rank atop the conference with a team earned run average of 4.65. The Eagles have also shown a good eye at the plate as they lead the NAC with 205 walks this season.
Jimy Landwehr has led the Eagle offense from the first day of the season and ranks second in the NAC with a .472 batting average. The senior has 75 hits on the season, which broke the single season school record, and currently ranks second in the NAC. Tim Barry provides most of the power for the Eagle offense as he ranks second in the NAC with seven home runs. Earlier this season, Barry broke Edgewood College's career record for home runs with 14 to date.
Starting pitching has led Edgewood College all year as the Eagles have thrown 17 complete games this season. Seniors Matt Krueger and Scott Winters lead that group with a combined 13-4 record this season. Krueger has been on fire as of late earning five complete game wins in his last five starts. On the season, Krueger has twirled seven complete games, all wins, and has an earned run average of 3.50. Winters has been nearly as impressive, going 6-3 on the season and has thrown three complete games. Freshman Blake O'Brien also has thrown well for the Eagles with a 6-1 record and three complete games. O'Brien leads the team with an ERA of 2.98, and earlier this season, threw 21 straight innings without allowing a run.
No. 2 Rockford College (26-12-1, 17-5 NAC)
Since the Regents won 13 of 16 games, including two six-game winning streaks, they have gone 3-3 in their last six games. The Regents needed one win in the final weekend to clinch a conference title and claimed their third NAC crown in four years when they took game two from Benedictine University. Rockford's offense could be the most potent in the NAC. The Regents currently lead the NAC in seven offensive categories and are in the top three in four others.
Senior Kyle Standridge leads the Regent offense and the NAC in hitting with his .477 batting average. Standridge has recorded at least one hit in every game this season and is currently on the eighth longest hitting streak in the history of NCAA Division III baseball at 39 games. He also leads the conference in runs scored (66), hits (84), triples (9) and total bases with 115. Jimmy Dercks, T.J. Stanfield and Eric Nicholson are also hitting over .400 for the Regents, while Nichols leads the team in slugging percentage at .726 with six home runs.
On the mound, senior Kevin Patterson has led the way for the Regents with his 7-2 record. In eight starts this season, Patterson has thrown one complete game and recorded 43 strike outs in just under 49 innings of work. Matt Bates has also started eight games for Rockford College with a record of 3-4, while Travis Mohr and Will Kuchelmeister are 4-0 and 3-0, respectively. Mohr leads the team with a 3.74 earned run average and Kuchelmeister has an ERA of 3.93 in 11 appearances.
No. 3 Concordia University Wisconsin (22-16, 16-6 NAC)
The Falcons have not won more than four straight games all season, but they have not lost more than three consecutive contests either. Coming into the tournament, Concordia Wisconsin is 1-3 in their last four games as they got swept by second-ranked UW-Whitewater and split with Marian University on the final day of the regular season. The Falcons defense and bullpen have been stellar all season as they lead the NAC in fielding percentage and saves. They have only committed 58 errors all season and have a fielding percentage of .957 to go along with 11 saves.
Freshman Ryan Schilter leads the Falcon offense with a .385 batting average while Austin Sarauer and Adam Martz are not far behind with their .366 and .353 batting averages, respectively. Sarauer leads the team in hits (56), runs batted in (46) and home runs with five. Junior first baseman Dan Shae leads the Falcons with a .988 fielding percentage and has only made three errors in 246 attempts this season.
Junior pitcher Derrick Pankow is the ace of Concordia Wisconsin's pitching staff leading the team with a record of 6-2 and a 4.44 earned run average in 71 innings of work. He has struck out 83 batters this season which leads the conference. Brent Berhing has tossed 47 innings in 13 appearances this season, including eight starts and has a record of 4-3. Matt Mayer has been solid at the end of games for the Falcons this season as he ranks second in the NAC with four saves in eight appearances.
No. 4 Aurora University (24-14, 16-6 NAC)
The Spartans have rebounded after a season long four-game losing streak to win seven of their last eight contests and qualify for the conference tournament. Aurora's only loss in their last eight games was a 23-20 defeat to Wheaton College. The Spartan offense is well balanced as they can hit for power and steal a base when they need to. They lead the NAC in home runs with 34 and stolen bases with 126 this season.
Seniors Kirk Williamson and Tony Wellner have paced the offense all year as Williamson has hit a team-high nine home runs, which ranks second in the NAC and Wellner leads the team with a .384 batting average. The Spartans have the top three base stealers in the conference this season. Wellner leads the NAC with 23 swipes, junior Anthony Amedei is second with 21 steals and sophomore Bobby Wilson has stolen 20 bases this season.
Aurora's ace, senior Steve Salazar, is tied for the conference lead in wins as he is 7-1 this season. He also ranks fourth in the NAC with a 3.27 earned run average and has held opponents to a .254 batting average which ranks third in the conference. Dan McCarthy has been equally impressive this season as he has a record of 6-1 and has an earned run average of 3.49. In 14 appearances, Shawn Gorsline has a record of 2-2 and an earned run average of 2.10 in 30 innings of work. He also ranks third in the conference with three saves this season.
