RIVER FOREST, ILL. — With opening day just around the corner, the Concordia University Chicago (CUC) baseball team gets ready to kick off the 2024 season. After some huge highs from last season, including a College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-American and a trip to the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Tournament, the Cougars are ready for the challenge. A full docket of action awaits CUC baseball, starting this weekend in St. Louis.
Last Season
The Cougars started off their 2023 season with three back-to-back-to-back trips to take on some non-conference action. Opening up at the Crossover Series in Indianapolis, Indiana where they left 2-1 on the weekend. They opened up with a win over Lawrence University 10-8 and against College of St. Scholastica 7-5.
After their opening weekend, CUC traveled to Auburndale, Florida to have a whole week of action in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational. The first two games of the week resulted in wins for the Cougars, 10-6 against the University of Dubuque and 11-3 against Wartburg College. Against Dubuque, Julio Cajigas had a huge day going two-for-four with two home runs. As the week progressed, the Cougars picked up two more wins against Illinois College 20-9 and University of Minnesota Morris 8-5 before heading back to the Midwest.
Following a long weekend of baseball in the sunshine, CUC traveled down to Centre College in Danville, Kentucky for a three-game series against the Colonels. They would go 1-2 against Centre, including a 15-14 win that included home runs from Tyler Krater and Michael Kasik, as well as a great outing on the mound from Westin Stutzman. With the big trips to open up the season completed, the Cougars looked to return to the Chicagoland area for more action.
After falling to the Wheaton College Thunder, the Cougars opened up NACC play against St. Norbert College with a sweep of 13-6 and 15-5. Kasik would grab two grand slams on this day and totaled 12 RBIs, making a huge impact offensively. Keeping with the conference action, CUC would lose their series against the Milwaukee School of Engineering and Lakeland University. After a four-game losing streak, they looked to take some big wins against Wisconsin Lutheran College.
Facing off against the Warriors, the Cougars would run-rule their opponent in both games 19-9 and 32-8. Scoring 51 runs on the day, CUC set a new program record for most runs scored in a doubleheader, which was previously set in the 2001 season. Riding high, the Cougars would defeat North Park University in a non-con game 11-4. Krater led the way offensively in this match, going three-for-three, and Christian Jacob picked up the win on the mound with six complete innings pitched.
Coming back into NACC action, they would get a split with Edgewood College, with a win of 7-5, and lose both to the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). Hosting Concordia University Wisconsin (CUW), they would only be able to complete one game in the double header due to weather, which was a win of 10-5. Before the game, the Cougar baseball program honored former Cougar pitcher Drew Knipper in an honorary jersey retirement ceremony in memory of the pitcher, marking the first number retired in program history.
The next three games would be losses for the Cougars against Aurora University and North Central College. Hunting for a spot in the conference tournament, CUC split their games against Benedictine University with a win of 18-5. They then went on to defeat CUW in the rescheduled game by a score of 7-1.
Losing both games to Rockford, CUC swept the final two doubleheaders of the season against Marian University and Dominican University. Against the Sabres, the Cougars had eight total home runs and beat Marian with scores of 11-10 and 23-0. On senior day, CUC took down the Stars 8-6 and 10-4 to finish out the regular season. With a conference record of 12-12, the Cougars clinched a spot into the conference tournament as the sixth seed.
NACC Tournament
Traveling to CUW, the Cougars opened up postseason action against the number three seed, MSOE. CUC ended up falling in this game with a final score of 5-3. Multiple Cougars offensively contributed, but they could not take the lead over the Raiders. This moved CUC into the loser's bracket, taking on number four seed IIT in a 7-3 loss.
This marked the final game of the 2024 season for CUC baseball. The Cougars ended with a 20-22 overall record and going 12-12 in conference play.
Postseason Accolades
After the opening weekend, Tyler Dorsch was recognized as NACC Player of the Week after a big start to his sophomore season. Towards the end of the season, Garry Maynard was also recognized for this honor after their series against Edgewood College.
For NACC postseason, six Cougars were honored with NACC All-Conference accolades for their play in the 2023 season. Both Kasik and Maynard earned NACC All-Conference First Team honors. Following them was Dorsch, Stutzman and Jacob on NACC All-Conference Second Team, along with Brandon Mahler on NACC All-Conference Honorable Mention.
Following the conference accolades, Kasik, Jacob, Dorsch, and Maynard were honored as CSC Academic All-District Team for not only their play in the 2023 season, but also for their academics. This had Kasik being selected as a CSC Academic Third Team All-American as an infielder. He finished the year with a 3.98 GPA and had a .366 batting average on the season.
The awards did not stop there, as Kasik and Maynard were both honored as ABCA/Rawlings Third Team All-Region. Along with Kasik's numbers on the year, Maynard hit .392 on the year and slugged 13 home runs. Elijah Hickman was also chosen by ABCA/Rawlings All-Region Defensive Team with a .976 fielding percentage as an outfielder for the maroon and gold.
Returning Cougars and New Faces
The Cougars return 22 total members from the 2023 season and bring in some new faces to the program. CUC's top three hitters will be returning for the 2024 season, including Dorsch who hit .396 with five home runs, 96 total bases, and 33 RBIs. Joining him will be Kasik, who along with his impressive batting average, hit 11 home runs, 53 RBIs, and 115 total bases. Krater will be back in the Cougar lineup, who hit .355, 16 doubles, and scored 30 runs on the season.
Wyatt McLaughlin is back on the mound for the Cougars this season, he had 51.1 innings pitched with 52 total strikeouts on opposing batters. Joining McLaughlin on the defensive end, Hickman returns to lead the outfield and corners Kasik and Krater will be back to man the infield.
In addition to those returning in the maroon and gold, CUC baseball welcomes 21 newcomers to the program. Ranging from freshmen to transfers, the Cougars look to see what they impact will be this upcoming season.
Coach's Input
Head Coach Kolin Conner returns for his fifth season at the helm of Cougar baseball.
"We want to compete at an even higher level more consistently; we want to embrace the fact that we have the opportunity to play college baseball every day," Conner had to comment on this upcoming season. "When you come to play for us it becomes a lifestyle and a special thing to be a part of. We want to play hard, play fast and have fun while we do it.We are ready to go, we need to get out on the field and learn the game as we compete against different teams. Pitching staff has depth with some returners, Position player core is experienced, but we have some nice young and new talent across the board both with the arms and position players."
Coach Kolin Conner is assisted by Head Assistant Coach, Matt Smith, who also serves as Pitching Coach and Recruiting Coordinator for the Cougars. In addition Connor Nelson serves as Assistant Coach, mainly as infield, hitting, and third base coach. Coming back to CUC as a Graduate Assistant is Maynard, who specializes in outfield and hitting. In addition to Maynard, two more CUC alumni are back to coach for the Cougars in Jose Mercado and Jake Garvey.
2023 Statistical Leaders
Hitting
Batting Average: Tyler Dorsch, .396
Slugging Percentage: Garry Maynard, .719
Hits: Michael Kasik, 64
Runs Batted In: Michael Kasik, 53
Home Runs: Garry Maynard, 13
Stolen Bases: Christian Jacob, 16
Pitching
ERA: Westin Stutzman, 4.74
Innings Pitched: Westin Stutzman, 68.1
Wins: Westin Stutzman, 7
Strikeouts: Westin Stutzman, 68
Fielding
Putouts: Michael Kasik, 324
Assists: Christian Jacob and Jaime Sandoval, 98
Fielding Double Plays: Michael Kasik, 25
What's Up First
The Cougars open up this weekend for a series of games in Sauget, Illinois. They will play Heidelberg University, North Park University (NPU), and Lawrence University to open up the 2024 season. Following this trip, CUC will hit the sunshine state for a whole week of action in Florida. For the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational, the Cougars will play the weekend against Houghton University and Penn State Abington. During the week, they will battle John Carroll University, Fontbonne University, and Calvin University. To wrap up their week, they finish off with a matchup against The College of New Jersey before returning to the midwest.
The travel does not stop there, as CUC travels to Kentucky for a three-game revenge series against Centre College the following weekend. After this long period of travel, the Cougars will be back in the Chicagoland area for non-conference and NACC play. They will face off on March 20th against NPU, before opening up conference play at home against St. Norbert College.
Another non-conference game will be played at Wheaton College on March 26th. The next day, the Cougars will host Dominican University, and then travel to the Milwaukee School of Engineering over the weekend. CUC stays on the road that next week, playing Benedictine University, then hosting Marian University that Saturday.
The Cougars stay at home on April 10th, playing host to Aurora University. That weekend brings an away matchup against Edgewood College and then a single-game in the Thunderdome against Willamette University. Play continues on April 16th with a trip to Rockford University, followed by a Saturday home Senior Day against Wisconsin Lutheran College.
The next two series are played at home against the Illinois Institute of Technology and North Central College. To wrap up the regular season, the Cougars will travel to Lakeland University and Concordia University Wisconsin. CUC Baseball looks to return to the NACC Championships, hosted May 8th through May 12th.
To stay up to date on all things CUC Baseball, follow them on Instagram and X @ CUCbaseball. Coverage for all of our sports can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
