Contact: Jenna McElroy, Sports Info & Social Media Intern, mcelroy@midwestconference.org
 
GRINNELL, Iowa – The University of Chicago baseball team is back in the Midwest Conference (MWC) for the first time since 1987. In the Maroons first year in the MWC in 32 years, the coaches selected them to win the North Division in the annual preseason poll while Monmouth College was picked to win back-to-back South Division titles.
 
UChicago edged last season’s North champion, St. Norbert College, by two points as it received six first-place votes for 42 points to the Green Knights four first-place votes and 40 points. The MWC has seen a different champion each of the last four seasons with three of the four from the North. Ripon College who took the crown in 2015 followed by Beloit College who won in 2016 came in third and fourth in the poll with 27 and 23 points, respectively. Lawrence University was the number two seed out of the North Division last year but only received 13 points for fifth.
 
Monmouth was the clear favorite in the South Division as the Scots earned nine first-place votes for 45 points. Grinnell College and Cornell College both grabbed 33 points, though the Pioneers did receive the final first-place votes. Rounding out the South is Illinois College in fourth with 20 points and Knox College in fifth with 14.
 
In the coming weeks, most teams will be heading to the warmer and snow-free weather of Florida to kick off their seasons. Below is a team-by-team preview of all nine MWC baseball programs.

Full Poll Results

North		South
1. UChicago	42 (6)	1. Monmouth	45 (9)
2. St. Norbert	40 (4)	T2. Grinnell	33 (1)
3. Ripon	27	T2. Cornell	33
4. Beloit	23	4. Illinois College	20
5. Lawrence	13	5. Knox	14

Beloit College Buccaneer
Head Coach: Dave DeGeorge (29th season) 436-491-2, 189-237-1 MWC
2018: 20-18, 6-10 MWC
Projected 2019 MWC Finish: 4th North
Returning Starters: 6
Returning Pitchers: 3
Returning All-MWC: Jalen Davis
 
The Buccaneers return a majority of their starting lineup from 2018 headlined by All-MWC outfielder Jalen Davis. Davis led Beloit with a .389 batting average, .480 on base percentage, and .544 slugging percentage. He also finished third in the Conference with 44 runs scored and 58 hits while striking out just 13 times. The pitching staff returns Danny Belling who started nine games for the Bucs last season where he posted a 4.75 earned run average (ERA) and struck out a team-high 33 in 53 innings. Sophomore Keith Haina is back in the bullpen after recording a 2.16 ERA with 26 strikeouts and allowed opponents to hit just .174 in 16 relief appearances in 2018.
 
Cornell College Rams
Head Coach: Seth Wing (6th season) 89-100, 47-40 MWC
2018: 17-21, 10-9 MWC
Projected 2019 MWC Finish: 2nd South
Returning Starters: 7
Returning All-MWC: Cameron Anfang, Zach Stone
 
After missing the MWC Tournament last season for the first time in four years, Cornell looks to earn its way back behind a lineup returning seven starters including two All-MWC performers in Cameron Anfang and Zach Stone. Anfang is the Rams top returning pitcher as he went 3-1 with the league’s third-best ERA at 3.26 over seven starts. He also struck out 38 while walking just 11 in 58 innings pitched. As a staff, the Rams struck out a school record 234 hitters in 2018. Stone returns as the team’s designated hitter after leading the team and ranking third in the Conference with six home runs and a .657 slugging percentage to go with a .390 batting average.
 
Grinnell College Pioneers
Head Coach: Tim Hollibaugh (26th season) 369-339, 176-150 MWC
2018: 17-22, 13-6 MWC
Projected 2019 MWC Finish: 2nd South
Returning Starters: 6
Returning All-MWC: Andrew Shults, Brock Weirather
 
Grinnell is looking to make its 11th straight MWC Tournament and will have to contend with 2018 MWC Champion Monmouth and a Cornell team in order to do so. All-MWC pitcher Brock Weirather returns as the team’s number one starter after posting the second most wins in the Conference last year with five. He walked a league-low six hitters while allowing just 25 earned runs for a 3.88 ERA. Weirather will be throwing to senior catcher Julian Cabrera who had five doubles and hit .264 last season. Second baseman Quinton McNitt is back after hitting .306 with 34 hits and a .426 on-base percentage.
 
Illinois College Blueboys
Head Coach: Jacob Waddle (1st season)
2018: 18-17, 8-11 MWC
Projected 2019 MWC Finish: 4th South
Returning Starters: 5
Returning Pitchers: 2
 
Jacob Waddle takes over as head coach for 2019 and looks to lead Illinois College back to the MWC Tournament for the first time since 2010. Atop the Blueboys’ pitching staff is Austin Newton who had five wins in nine starts as he allowed just 18 earned runs last season. Back in the lineup for Illinois College is Joe Paparelli and Brendan Stanfield. Paparelli had 44 hits including five doubles for a batting average of .352 and scored 36 runs last season. Stanfield recorded six doubles and two triples while hitting .302.
 
Knox College Prairie Fire
Head Coach: Jamie Isaacson (20th season) 221-401, 96-163 MWC
2018: 11-24, 3-16 MWC
Projected 2019 MWC Finish: 5th South
Returning Starters: 8
Returning All-MWC: Dalton James
 
The Prairie Fire return nearly all its starters for head coach Jamie Isaacson’s 20th season. Leading the way will be All-MWC performer Dalton James who recorded a batting line of .396 average, .469 on base, and .505 slugging percentage. James’ batting average ranked third in the Conference while he stole the fourth most bases at 20. Behind James, Kobe Shutter returns after leading Knox with five home runs for a .488 slugging percentage. Brendan Powers ranked just behind James with 22 RBI while scoring 25 runs after getting on base at a .403 clip.
 
Lawrence University Vikings
Head Coach: Chris Krepline (1st season)
2018: 15-21, 8-8 MWC
Projected 2019 MWC Finish: 5th North
Returning All-MWC: Chris Shaw
 
Last spring the Vikings qualified for the MWC Tournament for the first time since going back-to-back in 1989 and 1990. First year head coach Chris Krepline hopes to make it two in a row for the second time in program history. All-MWC pitcher Chris Shaw returns after striking out 44 for a K/9 of 7.97. The top returning hitter is Nolan Spencer who recorded a line of .309/.439/.331 in 2018. His 30 stolen bases also ranked second in the conference while he was only caught three times. Catcher Patrick McDonnell and his 34 RBI is also back after he hit a team-high four home runs along with 11 doubles for a .423 slugging percentage.
 
Monmouth College Fighting Scots
Head Coach: Alan Betourne (4th season) 63-50-1, 30-47 MWC
2018: 29-14-1, 14-6 MWC
Projected 2019 MWC Finish: 1st South
Returning Starters: 10
Returning All-MWC: Tyler McDonald, Harry Sanchez, Jake Starkey
 
The Scots return ten starters from a Conference-winning team including three All-MWC performers. Tyler McDonald leads a pitching staff that struck out a league-best 286 batters last season. McDonald led the team with 71 strikeouts in 75.1 innings. Monmouth’s top returning hitter is Jake Starkey who recorded a batting average of .348, .422 on-base percentage, and .449 slugging percentage in 2018 while also allowing just run out in 11 innings pitched out of the bullpen. Also back is first baseman/designated hitter Mike Dato and his seven doubles, eight home runs, and 39 RBI for a .520 slugging percentage.
 
Ripon College Red Hawks
Head Coach: Eric Cruise (6th season) 103-117, 65-32 MWC
2018: 12-20, 7-9 MWC
Projected 2019 MWC Finish: 3rd North
Returning Starters: 6
Returning Pitchers: 2
Returning All-MWC: Michael Barnes, Nick Taranto
 
Ripon returns two All-MWC players in infielder Nick Taranto and catcher Michael Barnes as the Red Hawks look to make the MWC Tournament for the first time since winning it all in 2015. Taranto led the team and was second in the Conference with a .415 batting average while reaching base 50 percent of the time and slugging .559. Barnes was second in hitting at .324 while leading the team with three home runs and 30 RBI. The pitching staff returns Austin Fox who had four wins in seven starts while allowing just 18 runs and striking out 25. In the bullpen, the Red Hawks have Brody Marks who gave up only three runs for an ERA of 1.93 in 14 innings over ten relief appearances.
 
St. Norbert Green Knights
Head Coach: Mike Wallerich (1st season)
2018: 24-15, 11-5 MWC
Projected 2019 MWC Finish: 2nd South
Returning Starters: 5
Returning Pitchers: 3
Returning All-MWC: Sean Ferraro, Griffin Jack, Carson Jacques, Nick Klavekoske
 
Defending North Division ahampion St. Norbert has a new challenger in UChicago but the Green Knights return four All-MWC performers. St. Norbert returns two All-MWC pitchers in Nick Klavekoske and Carson Jacques. Klavekoske posted a 3.67 ERA  with 48 strikeouts in 56.1 innings while Jacques matched Klavekoske’s win total of four while allowing 20 earned runs and striking out 25. The Green Knights also return two All-MWC position players to their lineup. Sean Ferraro had 36 hits including nine doubles while touching home 36 times while recording 82 putouts in the field. Griffin Jack’s added 39 hits, 11 doubles, and 37 runs scored while going 15-for-16 in stolen base attempts.
 
University of Chicago Maroons
Head Coach: John Fitzgerald (5th season) 298-265-1
2018: 26-13
Projected 2019 MWC Finish: 1st North
Returning Starters: 8
 
UChicago has competed independent of conference affiliation for the last 22 seasons, but this year the Maroons will be rejoining the MWC after last participating in the conference in 1987. The Maroons enter the North Division off a season in which they set school records for wins in a season with 26. Centerfielder Connor Hickey is back to lead the lineup after hitting .361 with a .464 on-base percentage in 2018. Hickey struck out only eight times while drawing 22 walks and led the team with 49 runs scored and 53 hits. First baseman Brady Sarkon had a team-high 34 RBI while hitting .352 with a team-best three home runs and .477 slugging percentage. Chicago also returns its top two starting pitchers in Brenton Villasenor and Jacob Peterson. Villasenor led the team with 72 strikeouts with an ERA of 3.22 in 67 innings over 11 starts. Peterson had a team-high eight wins in ten starts while striking out 42 and allowing just 22 earned runs.