Baseball

HCAC 2023 Baseball Notebook, Week 11

CARMEL, Ind. – The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) baseball teams competed in week eleven of the 2023 season.  

Around the League:  

HCAC Baseball Schedule 

Athletes of the Week:  

Hitting Athlete of the Week:  

Luke Willmann (Muncie, Ind.) Franklin College | First Year- Willmann went 5-for-11 (.455) with three home runs and 11 RBI for Franklin as they went 3-1 to close the regular season. Willman went 2-for-5 with three RBI in a game two win over Earlham on Saturday to help clinch the HCAC regular season crown. Willman slugged three home runs and drove in eight in a double-header sweep of Defiance on Sunday. 

Pitching Athlete of the Week: 

Matt Armstrong (Louisville, Ky.) Transylvania University | Junior- Armstrong went the full nine in a 2-0 shutout win over Earlham on Sunday with 16 strikeouts while scattering two hits, and only allowing three baserunners. 

Notable Performances:  

  • Andy Krajecki (Hampshire, Ill.) Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology | Senior- Krajecki led the Rose-Hulman offense to a 3-1 record with a .500 batting average, a .632 on-base percentage, and an .857 slugging percentage. Andy was 7-14 with 5 free passes, 7 runs scored, 3 RBIs, 1 triple, 1 home run, and 1 stolen base en route to his 1.490 OPS for the week. 

  • Nathan Lancianese (Lexington, Ky.) Earlham College | Senior- Lancianese had a stellar week at the plate, going 8-for-15 with four RBI, two doubles, two home runs, and two stolen bases.  

  • Connor Farnsley (Jeffersonville, Ind.) Hanover College | Junior- Farnsley led the Panthers to a 4-2 week posting a 520 batting average with a .680 slugging percentage. He tallied 13 hits on 25 at bats with four doubles and 12 RBI.  

  • Trent Youngblood (Louisville, Ky.) Transylvania University | Junior- Youngblood went 5-12 with five runs scored, 5RBI, including a triple and a homerun with four walks in a split with Anderson and a sweep of Earlham. 

  • Johnathan Oliger (Delton City, Ill.) Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology | Sophomore- Oliger pitched four scoreless innings and struck out four batters while picking up one win and one save during the 3-1 weekend for the Fightin' Engineers. Oliger recorded both the win and walk-off single in the season finale 6-5 win over Manchester. 

  • Wyatt Groves (Marengo, Ohio.) Bluffton University | Sophomore- Groves came up with his third straight outstanding performance. In a game the Beavers needed to win to nail down the #3 seed and to have any chance at the #2 seed, Groves went eight innings, giving up just two runs on six hits with eight punchouts! Groves limited the opposition to a .200 batting average and went 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA for the week. 

  • Dillon Fischer (Cincinatti, Ohio.) Earlham College | Junior- Fischer went eight innings with a no decision in the Earlham win over Franklin College. Fischer scattered four hits with two earned runs while earning 10 strikeouts in the outing.  

  • Marcus Goodpaster (Indianapolis, Ind.) Hanover College | Junior- Goodpaster finished the season with a perfect 8-0 mark after picking up the win over Defiance. He pitched a complete game with seven strikeouts and a 2.13 ERA. 

  • Ethan Mason (Cincinatti, Ohio.) Mount St. Joseph University | First Year- Mason finished off his first season in a Lions uniform with a bang this weekend. For the week he was 8-for-19, driving in 9 runs, scoring four runs and providing major power in the middle of the order. Game one on Saturday at Manchester Mason hit a pair of homeruns, then followed that up with another homer in game one Sunday. And finished the season with a 2 double performance vs. Anderson in game two. 

  • Rocco Hanes (Ossian, Ind.) Manchester University | Sophomore- Hanes helped lead the Spartans to a 2-2 weekend, going 11-15 at the plate with five RBI, three runs scored, three doubles, a home run, and a stolen base. Hanes currently has a .350 batting average on the season with 56 total hits and leads MU with 18 doubles. 

  • Grahm Reedy (Yorktown, Ind.) Anderson University | Senior- Reedy went 8-for-21 with a .381 batting average as Anderson went 4-2 on the week. He produced two homers, one triple, one double and four stolen bases. Reedy posted an .810 slugging percentage and a .458 on-base percentage. 

  • Aidan Shoemaker (Noblesville, Ind.) Anderson University | First Year- Shoemaker threw three perfect of innings of relief on the week while striking out two batters. He pitched one inning in Game two against Hanover and two innings in Game one against Transylvania. 

  • Will Butts (Yorktown, Ind.) Franklin College | First Year- Butts earned his first career win in game two against Earlham on Saturday, tossing four innings of three-hit ball with three strikeouts in relief.  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Looking Forward:  
HCAC Baseball Standings