Baseball

HCAC 2025 Baseball Notebook, Week 8

CARMEL, Ind. – The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) Baseball teams competed in week eight of the 2025 season.
 
Around the League:
HCAC Baseball Schedule
 
Athletes of the Week:
Hitter of the Week:
Jake Sanders (Ft. Loarmie, Ohio) Mount St. Joseph University | Right Field | Senior- Lions senior outfield Jake Sanders helped the Lions go 4-1 this week, including a Sunday sweep of Bluffton. For the week Jake was 11-for-23 (.478) with a double, 3 homeruns, 7 runs scored, 2 walks and 11 RBIs.

Pitching Athlete of the Week:
Rocco Hanes (Ossian, Ind.) Manchester University | Pitcher | Senior - Hanes had a phenomenal game on the mound this week against MSJ, he went 7 strong innings only allowing two hits and one run and finishing his game out with 10 strikeouts. Hanes pitched a game ERA of 1.29 and helped lead the Spartans to a victory.


Notable Performances
Hitting Athletes
  • Daniel Barreca (Galena, Ohio) Anderson University | Outfield | First Year - Daniel Barreca went 8-for-15 with 1 homer, 2 triples, 1 double and 4 RBI. Barrreca also drew 6 walks and was a hit by a pitch. He posted a .533 batting average, a .681 on-base percentage and a 1.000 slugging percentage.
  • Jack Towell (Batavia, Ohio) Bluffton University | Outfield | Graduate - Towell went 7-of-19 with a .368 batting average and .509 slugging percentage in five games for the Beavers. He scored 4 runs, drove in 2 and rapped 3 doubles to go along with a pair of walks. He became the all-time hits leader on Saturday when he smacked his 4th hit of the day and 249th of his career.
  • Mitchell Roether (Dayton, Ohio) Earlham College | First Base | Junior - Mitchell Roether led the Quakers at the pate this week, batting .400 (6-15) with two doubles and one home run. Roether brought home four RBI, and scored two runs himself.
  • Josh Girvan (Zionsville, Ind.) Franklin College | Infield | First Year - Girvan set the Franklin single-season record for stolen bases over the weekend, going 7-for-17 at the plate with eight runs scored, four RBI and nine stolen bases in total…swiped three bags in game two against Transylvania on Saturday, giving him the new single season record of 28 steals.
  • Jake Danneman (Edgewood, Ky.) Hanover College | Right Field | Senior - Jake Danneman led Hanover as they went 2-2 on the week. The senior tallied six hits with four RBI. He added two doubles and a triple and drew three walks. He also tallied what would become the game-winning RBI in game one against Manchester in the top of the eighth inning.
  • Joel Kennedy (Mooreland, Ind.) Manchester University | Designated Hitter | Sophomore - Kennedy brought his bat all week racking up a hit in all five games the Spartans played and helping lead them to a 3-2 week overall. Kennedy went 9-18 over the week, batting .500 with 7 runs batted in and 4 runs scored himself. Kennedy added a Home Run vs Huntington on Tuesday and later added 2 doubles against MSJ that proved vital as the second double came in the bottom of the 9th that scored 2 and would be the walk off hit.
  • Connor O'Connell (Fort Myers, Fla.) Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology | Infield | Junior - Connor O'Connell helped the Fightin' Engineers go 4-0 this week in conference play with sweeps over Bluffton and Franklin. O'Connell finished the week with a .500 batting average, going 10-20 with five runs scored and six RBIs. O'Connell totaled four doubles, recording three in a single game, and one home run on the week.
  • Ethan Dillon (Louisville, Ky.) Transylvania University | Outfield | First Year - Ethan Dillon recorded seven stolen bases this week in addition to going 2-4 against Berea with one run, 2-6 against Denison with one run and one double, 3-8 against Franklin with two runs and 2-7 against Earlham with one run and one double.
Pitching Athletes
  • Logan Nickel (Westfield, Ind.) Anderson University | Pitcher | Senior - Logan Nickel put together a complete-game win against Earlham. He allowed 1 run on 7 hits in 9 innings, posting a 1.00 ERA and a 0.78 WHIP.
  • Casey Blevins (Richmond, Ind.) Earlham College | Pitcher | First Year - Casey Blevins earned the win in game one against Transylvania with six innings pitched, and one earned run on seven hits. The freshman fanned two batters and allowed just one walk as the Quakers went on to win 7-3 over the Pioneers.
  • Matt Johnson (Andrean, Ind.) Franklin College | Pitcher | Senior - Johnson went the distance in a game one win over Transylvania on Saturday, giving up two earned runs with three walks and nine strikeouts in a 12-2 Franklin win and the third complete game of his career.
  • Wyatt Colvin (Prospect, Ky.) Hanover College | Pitcher | First Year - Wyatt Colvin led Hanover to a victory over Berea, throwing a complete game win. He recorded seven strikeouts, allowed just one run while scattering five hits. The freshman finished the week with a 1.29 ERA.
  • Matt Frye (Mt. Orab, Ohio) Mount St. Joseph University | Pitcher | Sophomore - Lions sophomore right hander Matt Frye was magnificent in the teams 12-2 win over Bluffton on Sunday. The Lions used an opener in the game, but Frye came on to pitch 6.0 innings of outstanding ball. He allowed just 3 hits and 1 earned run while striking out 10 to earn the win.
  • Brady Strawmyer (Fishers, Ind.) Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology | Pitcher | Sophomore - Brady Strawmyer earned a win on the mound for the Fightin' Engineers in their victory over Bluffton 8-1. Strawmyer pitched 7.0 innings, allowing only one earned run with four strikeouts.
  • Giancarlo Gonzalez (Lexington, Ky.) Transylvania University | Pitcher | First Year - Gonzalez pitched six innings against Earlham allowing four hits and one run, recording seven strike outs. He also appeared in one inning against Denison pitching one inning allowing one hit and one run with two strike outs, and against Berea with two innings and no runs or hits allowed with two strike outs. Transylvania was 3-3 on the week.
 
Looking Forward:
HCAC Baseball Standings