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WIAC Baseball Preview

02/20/2023, 1:30pm CST
By WIAC

From the WIAC -- 

University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, the five-time defending conference champion, has been selected to win the 2023 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) baseball title, according to a preseason poll conducted by the league’s head coaches and sports information directors. 

The Warhawks, ranked No. 9 in the D3baseball.com/NCBWA Preseason Top 25, captured the 21st league championship in program archives in 2022, and made their 24th NCAA appearance – advancing to the Super Regionals. UW-Whitewater has posted at least 30 victories in 14 of the last 15 seasons and brings back four All-WIAC performers from last year’s squad. 

UW-Stevens Point, ranked No. 8 by D3baseball.com/NCBWA, is slotted for second in this year’s conference predictions. The Pointers claimed their 12th WIAC Tournament title a season ago and advanced to the NCAA Division III World Series for the sixth time in program archives. 

UW-Stevens Point is followed in the WIAC poll by: UW-La Crosse; UW-Oshkosh; UW-Stout; UW-Platteville; UW-Eau Claire; and Finlandia University (Mich.). 

Luke Paul will assume the head coaching duties at Finlandia this season. He was an assistant coach for the Lions from 2017-20, and was a member of the team from 2013-16. 

The 28-game conference schedule for each team begins on March 25. The top-four teams in the standings will secure a spot in the double-elimination WIAC Tournament that will be conducted May 11-13 at the No. 1 seed. The winner of the tournament receives the conference’s automatic NCAA bid. 

2023 Preseason Predictions
(Voted on by WIAC head coaches and sports information directors) 

                                                           2022 Record 

1. UW-Whitewater                       (36-11 overall, 25-3 WIAC) 

2. UW-Stevens Point                  (42-10, 22-6) 

3. UW-La Crosse                         (24-18, 16-12) 

4. UW-Oshkosh                           (24-19, 16-12) 

5. UW-Stout                                 (21-19, 14-14) 

6. UW-Platteville                         (13-22, 11-17) 

7. UW-Eau Claire                         (14-26, 8-20) 

8. Finlandia Univ.                        (4-36, 0-28) 

Team Capsules (Entering the 2023 season)

Finlandia University (Mich.) 
Head Coach:  Luke Paul; 1st season at FIN; 0-0
Letterwinners Returning/Lost:  14/15 
Starting Position Players Returning/Lost:  4/5
Pitchers with Starting Experience Returning/Lost:  4/4
Pitchers with Saves Returning/Lost:  0/0

Returning All-WIAC:  None 

Notable Returning Position Players:  Jordan D’Angelo, Jr., INF; Josh Merced, Sr., OF; Chance White, Jr., INF 

Notable Returning Pitchers:  Jeff Bishop, So., RHP; Brandon Hale, Sr., RHP 

UW-Eau Claire 
Head Coach:  Charles Bolden; 3rd season at UWEC; 19-59
Letterwinners Returning/Lost:  23/15 
Starting Position Players Returning/Lost:  6/3
Pitchers with Starting Experience Returning/Lost:  5/3
Pitchers with Saves Returning/Lost:  2/1

Returning All-WIAC:  Nate Witte, Jr., OF (2022-First) 

Notable Returning Position Players:  Andrew Murphy, Jr., OF; Drew Salyers, So., INF; Otto Treichel, Sr., INF 

Notable Returning Pitchers:  Charley Griffin, Sr., RHP; Matt Moore, Jr., RHP; Nico Smith, So., RHP 

UW-La Crosse
Head Coach:  Chris Schwarz; 19th season at UWL; 427-301-2
Letterwinners Returning/Lost:  24/11 
Starting Position Players Returning/Lost:  5/4
Pitchers with Starting Experience Returning/Lost:  4/3
Pitchers with Saves Returning/Lost:  4/0

Returning All-WIAC:  Mac Born, So., UTIL (2021-Honorable/Newcomer of the Year, 2022-First); Alex Mach, Jr., LHP (2021-Honorable, 2022-Honorable); Caleb Matl, Jr., LHP (2022-First); Jack Olver, So., INF (2022-First); Brady Schmitt, Jr., LHP (2021-Honorable) 

Notable Returning Position Players:  Jack Kelly, Jr., 1B; George Seaman, So., 1B; Tim Urlaub, Jr., C 

Notable Returning Pitchers:  Sawyer Phillips, Jr., RHP; Alex Redman, Jr., LHP; Chris Seveska, Jr., RHP 

UW-Oshkosh
Head Coach:  Kevin Tomasiewicz; 10th season at UWO; 182-50-1
Letterwinners Returning/Lost:  25/9
Starting Position Players Returning/Lost:  8/1
Pitchers with Starting Experience Returning/Lost:  5/2
Pitchers with Saves Returning/Lost:  5/0

Returning All-WIAC:  Connor Brinkman, So., LHP (2022-First/Newcomer of the Year); Matt Scherrman, Sr., SS (2021-Honorable, 2022-First); Jake Surane, Jr., 2B (2022-First) 

Notable Returning Position Players:  Jackson Broom, Sr., OF; Ethan Schreier, Sr., OF; Nick Shiu, So., DH 

Notable Returning Pitchers:  Cameron Mulvihill, Sr., LHP; Matt Sorrells, Jr., LHP; LJ Waco, Sr., RHP 

UW-Platteville
Head Coach:  Chad Harris; 5th season at UWP (13th overall); 178-245 (overall) / 51-72 (UWP)
Letterwinners Returning/Lost:  23/11
Starting Position Players Returning/Lost:  7/2
Pitchers with Starting Experience Returning/Lost:  3/2
Pitchers with Saves Returning/Lost:  2/1

Returning All-WIAC:  Brady Hoppert, So., RHP (2022-Honorable) 

Notable Returning Position Players:  Zach McCoy, Sr., SS; Wyatt Molitor, Sr., 1B; Jake Wegner, Jr., OF 

Notable Returning Pitchers:  Isaac Bixby, So., RHP; Parker Heidorf, Jr., RHP; Sam Hernandez, Sr., RHP 

UW-Stevens Point
Head Coach:  Nat Richter; 3rd season at UWSP; 74-21
Letterwinners Returning/Lost:  33/9
Starting Position Players Returning/Lost:  7/2
Pitchers with Starting Experience Returning/Lost:  7/2
Pitchers with Saves Returning/Lost:  5/0

Returning All-WIAC:  Nick Carpenter, Jr., LHP (2021-Honorable); Bradley Comer, Sr., INF (2021-First, 2022-First); Sidney Ferry, Jr., RHP (2021-First, 2022-First); Payton Nelson, Sr., OF (2018-Honorable, 2019-Honorable, 2021-First, 2022-Honorable); Casey Pickering, Jr., RHP (2021-Honorable, 2022-First); JD Schultz, Jr., RHP (2021-Honorable); Austin Syvertson, Sr., RHP (2022-Honorable); Anthony Tomczak, So., C (2022-Honorable) 

Notable Returning Position Players:  Matt Baumann, Jr., OF; Jakob Boos, Jr., INF; Logan Matson, So., INF 

Notable Returning Pitchers:  Tyler Beyer, Jr., RHP; Nathan Krommenakker, Jr., RHP 

UW-Stout
Head Coach:  Ben Kincaid; 7th season at UWST; 86-110
Letterwinners Returning/Lost:  26/5
Starting Position Players Returning/Lost:  6/3
Pitchers with Starting Experience Returning/Lost:  4/2
Pitchers with Saves Returning/Lost:  2/2

Returning All-WIAC:  Jacoby Endreas, Sr., 1B (2022-Honorable) 

Notable Returning Position Players:  Riley Boushack, Jr., OF; Jack Schirpke, Sr., OF; Levi Wilson, Sr., 2B 

Notable Returning Pitchers:  Cooper Beving, Sr., LHP; Drew Buss, So., RHP; Cody Urban, Sr., RHP 

UW-Whitewater
Head Coach:  John Vodenlich; 22nd season (20th at UWW); 682-244-1 (overall) / 653-204-1 (UWW)
Letterwinners Returning/Lost:  23/7
Starting Position Players Returning/Lost:  8/1
Pitchers with Starting Experience Returning/Lost:  1/4
Pitchers with Saves Returning/Lost:  3/2

Returning All-WIAC:  Cade Berendt, Sr., LHP (2022-First); Donovan Brandl, Jr., RHP/INF (2021-First/Pitcher & Honorable/1B); Jacob DeMeyer, Sr., OF (2021-Honorable, 2022-Honorable); Matt Korman, Sr., OF (2021-Honorable); Nick Paget, Jr., INF (2022-Honorable); Sam Vomhof, Sr., INF (2021-First, 2022-First) 

Notable Returning Position Players:  Bennett Frazer, So., INF; Ryan Norton, Sr., C; Matt Scolan, So., OF 

Notable Returning Pitchers:  Sam Paden, Jr., RHP; Joey Pettit, So., RHP

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