Baseball Weekly Release #15 - NCAA Regional Preview

May 29, 2007

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

2007 U.S. Army Horizon League Baseball Championship MVP

David Cales. UIC
Sophomore IF/RHP * Chicago, Ill.
Cales batted .615 (8-for-13) with three doubles, three home runs, five runs scored and seven RBI in three games, leading the Flames to their third League Championship title in the last five years. He doubled and homered in each contest, posting a 1.538 slugging percentage and reaching base in nine of 14 plate appearances (.643 on-base percentage).

The sophomore also recorded his League-high 12th save of the year in the Flames' tournament debut---striking out the side in the ninth inning of an 8-5 victory over Cleveland State---and pitched a scoreless final inning in the clinching triumph over Wright State.

2007 U.S. Army Horizon League Baseball Championship All-Tournament Team
Larry Gempp Jr., UIC
Sr. * OF * Ingleside, Ill.
Gempp led all hitters with a tourney-record .800 batting average and 1.700 slugging clip. He had at least two hits in each game, and went 3-for-3 with a homer and four RBI in the title game.

Jeremy Hamilton, Wright State
So. * 1B * Cincinnati, Ohio
Hamilton posted a tourney-high nine RBI, batting .389 (7-for-18) with three homers and five runs scored. He homered twice and drove in six runs versus UW-Milwaukee on Thursday.

Jesse Hart, UW-Milwaukee
Jr. * 2B * West Allis, Wis.
Hart batted .429 with three homers, six RBI and nine runs scored. He drove in four runs against Wright State on Thursday and added three hits against Youngstown State on Friday.

John Koehnlein, Youngstown State
So. * OF/3B * Toronto, Ohio
Koehnlein batted .524 with a tourney-high 11 hits. Six of those hits came in a record-setting performance against Butler on Thursday, as he drove in five runs to push YSU past the Bulldogs.

Dan Luczak, UW-Milwaukee
Jr. * RHP * Brookfield, Wis.
Luczak preserved the Panthers' season with a complete-game eight-hit shutout in UWM's 9-0 victory over Youngstown State on Friday, logging his fourth victory of the year.

Stephen Procner, Cleveland State
Sr. * LHP * Girard, Ohio
Procner tossed a complete game against Butler on Wednesday, allowing only one run on six hits while striking out five. He needed only an hour and 46 minutes to post his fourth victory of 2007.

Nick Rainwater, UIC
Sr. * 3B * Waukesha, Wis.
Rainwater batted .538 with six runs scored and four RBI in the tournament. His seven hits included two doubles and a two-run, first-inning home run against Wright State.

Chad Schroeder, UIC
Sr. * SS * Everett, Wash.
Schroeder sparked the top of the UIC line-up, scoring seven runs in three outings. He crossed the plate in the first inning of each game as UIC built big early leads on the way to the title.

Brian Shoup, Wright State
Sr. * OF * Tipp City, Ohio
Shoup set a tourney single-game record with three home runs to power the Raiders past UW-Milwaukee on Saturday. He was three-for-five in that elimination contest.

Ryan Zink, UIC
Jr. * RHP * Madison, Wis.
Zink shut down Wright State's potent offense for seven shutout innings Friday, allowing only five hits as the Flames moved on to the championship game with a 13-3 victory.

UIC Carries League Banner West to NCAA Regional

For the third time in five years, UIC caputred the Horizon League Championship and will represent the League in the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship. The Flames swept through three games on their home field for the 2007 pennant, adding that crown to its sixth consecutive regular-season League title.

The Flames drew a tough task in the regionals, however, as UIC will travel across the country to Long Beach, Calif., for its first step on the road to Omaha. Coach Mike Dee's crew enters the Long Beach regional as the fourth seed and will face host and top seed Long Beach State on Friday evening. Second seed Pepperdine and third seed UCLA round out the four-team regional field.

Only Oregon State (the third seed in the Charlottesville, Va., regional) must travel farther than the Flames.

UIC (34-19) outscored its opponents 35-10 in three games to win the League Championship, batting .417 with a tournament-record ten home runs to back a pitching staff which posted a 2.33 ERA---nearly four runs per game better than any other team in the League summit.

Senior outfielder Larry Gempp Jr. leads the Flames with a .397 batting average (third-best in the League), and ranks second on the loop charts with 54 runs batted in. His seven homers are tied for fifth-best on that League chart.

Senior shortstop Chad Schroeder ranks second in the League with 52 runs scored and 15 stolen bases.

The Flames' pitching staff topped the circuit with a 4.04 ERA, with freshman right-hander Steve Crnkovich (4-3) atop the individual charts at 2.27. Senior right-hander Zach Peterson (7-3) has won his last seven decisions, and owns a 3.59 ERA having pitched a League-high 100.1 innings with 62 strikeouts (second on the loop list).

Sophomore David Cales leads the League with 12 saves, carrying a 3-0 record and a 0.84 ERA into the tournament. He has struck out 29 batters with only one walk in 32 innings this season, while also sharing the team lead with seven home runs.

LBSU carries a 37-18 overall record, including a 19-9 mark in the Big West Conference. The Dirtbags are currently ranked 16th in the nation by Collegiate Baseball magazine, and 21st by Baseball America.Pepperdine went 14-7 in West Coast Conference play, entering the national tournament at 35-20 overall. That success earned the No. 24 ranking in the latest Baseball America poll, while Collegiate Baseball has the Waves at 30th in the nation.

UCLA stands at 30-26 overall, 14-10 in Pacific-10 Conference play. The Bruins are one of four Pac-10 entries in the 64-team field.

The winner of the Long Beach Regional advances to the Super-Regionals, facing on the survivor of the San Diego regional in a best-of-three series for a trip to Omaha, Neb., and the College World Series.

Around the Horizon League -- League Championship / Season Wrap-Up

Flames head west after winning League title
UIC captured its third League Championship since 2003, combining strong starting pitching with a potent offense to win three consecutive games and improve to 34-19 on the season.

Senior outfielder Larry Gempp Jr. set tournament records for batting average (.800) and slugging percentage (1.700), homering twice and driving in six runs. Sophomore second baseman/pitcher David Cales added a .615 clip with three doubles, three homers and seven RBI to win tourney MVP honors and join Gempp on the All-Tournament Team.

The Flames scored seven runs in the first two innings of all three games, jumping out to large early leads and cruising to victory. UIC hit .417 as a team for the week with a tournament-record 10 home runs. Senior infielders Chad Schroeder and Nick Rainwater garnered All-Tournament recognition for their efforts in sparking the top of the Flames' line-up.

The pitching was equally effective, with starters Zach Peterson, Ryan Zink and Steve Crnkovich combining for a 1.74 ERA in 21 innings of work. Zink tossed seven shutout innings versus Wright State to win All-Tournament honors, with Crnkovich adding six scoreless frames to gain the victory in the title contest.

Crnkovich leads the League with a 2.27 ERA for the season, with Cales topping the circuit with his 12 saves. Peterson has won his last seven decisions after an 0-3 start in 2007.

Raiders run out of steam
Wright State sported the League's top offense during the regular season, but the Raiders did not have an answer for UIC in the tournament, losing twice to the Flames by a combined 27-5 margin. WSU finished the season at 36-22, setting 16 school records in posting the program's highest victory total since a 39-21 mark in 1994.

Sophomore first baseman Jeremy Hamilton gained All-Tournament notice for his three homers and tourney-high nine RBI during the week, and leads the circuit with 62 RBI for the season (along with a .374 batting average which ranks fifth). His nine homers are second only to teammate Brian Shoup, who hit a tournament-record three in Saturday's victory over UW-Milwaukee. Shoup finished with ten round-trippers for the season.

Senior second baseman Ross Oeder ended the season with a .408 batting average (second in the League) along with a loop-best 25 stolen bases. Oeder also topped the circuit charts with 79 runs scored, a .496 on-base percentage and a .649 slugging percentage.

Senior right-hander Kyle Kearcher logged his loop-best tenth win of the year in the League Championship. He ranks fifth on the loop charts with a 3.83 ERA, one spot ahead of fellow senior Erich Schanz (3.86).

Panthers win two, lose two
UW-Milwaukee matched its finish in the regular season finish with a third-place showing, defeating Youngstown State twice but falling twice to Wright State---including a dramatic, 11-inning setback in elimination play.

Junior right-hander Dan Luczak earned All-Tournament honors with a complete-game eight-hitter versus YSU in elimination play, while junior second baseman Jesse Hart homered three times in posting a .429 average for the week. Hart scored nine runs and drove in six for the Panthers.

Hart finished the year with a .360 batting average which currently ranks seventh in the League. Junior shortstop Grant Berkovitz is tenth with a .335 clip after collecting nine hits in 20 at-bats at the League summit.

Freshman utility player Josh Groves tied a tournament record with six RBI against Youngstown State on Wednesday.

Senior left-hander Robert Michalkiewicz ended the year with a 4.03 ERA (seventh-best in the League) after winning his sixth game of the season against Youngstown State in the Panthers' tourney debut. He led UWM with six victories in 2007, and ranks third on the circuit charts with 98.1 innings pitched.

Senior outfielder Rob Brockel ended his career on a 20-game hit streak. Groves and junior outfielder Nick Wichser carry 16-game streaks into the 2008 campaign.

Penguins march up the ladder
Youngstown State came into the League Championship as the sixth seed, but the Penguins battled their way to a fourth-place finish with victories over Butler and Cleveland State along with two losses to UW-Milwaukee. YSU ended the year with a 19-37 overall ledger.

YSU matched its season-high for runs scored in Thursday's 20-6 victory over Butler.

Sophomore third baseman/outfielder John Koehnlein set a tourney single-game record with six hits against Butler on Thursday, and led all batters with 11 hits for the tournament. He hit .524 for the week, and leads the League with a .434 clip for the season. His 108 hits are a school single-season record. Koehnlein ended the year with 29 multi-hit games, and carries an active 29-game hit streak into 2008.

Junior designated hitter Erich Diedrich ranks sixth in the League in batting average (.362), third in home runs (eight), and sixth in RBI (44). Diedrich went 10-for-20 at the plate in the League Championship, homering twice and driving in seven runs. Senior Brent Parks also hit .500 (8-for-16) for the week with eight runs scored and six RBI.

Senior right-hander Andy Svitak recorded his ninth save of the season against CSU. Only UIC's David Cales (12) has saved more games among Horizon League pitchers this season.

Vikings start fast ... really fast
Cleveland State opened the tournament with a 6-1 victory over Butler, a game that took only one hour and 46 minutes to complete as senior left-hander Stephen Procner tossed a complete-game six-hitter and struck out five.

The Vikings then dropped their next two games to UIC and Youngstown State to finish the year at 14-44 overall.

Procner posted his team-high fourth win of the year, and leads the League with 75 strikeouts for the season. He has worked a loop-high 100.1 innings (matching UIC's Zach Peterson in that category) and ranks eighth in the circuit with a 4.31 ERA. Procner tied UW-Milwaukee's Robert Michalkiewicz for League honors with four complete games in 2007.

Sophomore outfielder Nate Radtke went four-for-eight with a homer and four RBI in his three appearances at the League summit. Senior outfielder Rich Ranells had three doubles in the tournament, giving him a team-high 15 for the year.

Sophomore second baseman Matt Madrid hit his team-high sixth home run of the year in the tournament. Madrid also led the Vikings with 28 runs batted in for the season, one more than Ranells.

Sophomore left-hander Josh Hungerman ranks fourth in the League with a 3.82 ERA in 77.2 innings of work this year. Last spring, he went 0-9 with an 8.04 ERA.

Bulldogs make quick exit
Butler finished the year at 22-33 after losing both of its games at the League Championship. BU fell to Cleveland State (6-1) before a 20-7 setback to Youngstown State in elimination play.

Sophomore outfielder Rick Betsch provided a highlight for BU offensively, hitting a pair of home runs in the elimination loss to Youngstown State. Betsch did not hit a homer during the regular season, but became the 11th player ever to homer twice in a League Championship contest.

Senior catcher Joe Dempsey hit his team-high seventh homer of the season versus CSU. Dempsey is tied for fifth place in the League with those seven round-trippers, and ended the year with a .296 batting average. His 39 RBI are seventh-best on that League chart.

Senior outfielder Dustin Bucalo and junior shortstop Joe Pauley rank ninth and 13th, respectively, in the League in batting average. Bucalo posted a .339 average in 2007, with Pauley hitting at a .324 clip.

Junior right-hander Jon Dages ranks second on the circuit's ERA charts at 3.40. Dages fanned 62 hitters in 98 innings this season while posting a team-high six victories. Junior Brian Bokowy is ninth on the League ERA charts at 4.36.