Schaumburg, Ill. – Dominican University Baseball begins their NACC campaign with their home opener against St. Norbert on Saturday.
 
Series History vs. St. Norbert:
Dominican and St. Norbert first played on 4/9/2022 in De Pere, Wis. (L, 7-3) 
All-Time Record / Streak: 3-3 / Dominican W1
Last Meeting (3/30/2024): Dominican 15, St. Norbert 4
 
DU in Review:
-The 2025 season marks the 14th season with Head Coach Steve Hardman at the helm. The Stars finished with a 15-25 record overall and were 7-17 in the NACC. 
-DU heads into 2025 looking to make the conference tournament for the first time since 2019. 
-As a team, the Stars hit with a .270 batting average and a 5.19 ERA.
-The Stars finished the 2025 RussMatt Baseball Invitational with a 5-3 record, achieving wins over Pittsburgh at Greensburg, Saint Vincent, Northland, Mount St. Jospeh, and Albion.
-Dominican is currently 7-6 on the season.
 
Last Time Out:
-The Stars fell to the hands of Illinois College in Rock Island, 8-5.
-Sophomore Ty Phillips went 2-3 with 3 RBIs and a walk.
-Junior Tyler Johnson finished 1-3 with 2 RBIs.
-Junior Zach Helein was 1-3 with a double and a walk.
 
Star Gazing:
-Graduate Student Grayson Downing leads DU with 20 hits on the season while adding 7 RBIs.
 -Junior Matthew Earley is 2nd on Dominican with 11 hits but leads the team with 11 RBIs.
 -Senior CJ Kalekas is 2-0 on the season with an ERA of 3.00.
 
Familiar Faces:
   -Dominican returns Graduate Student Grayson Downing after only playing 17 games in his senior year, G. Downing is a lockdown centerfielder that has a career batting average of .363 in his 127 games in a Stars uniform. G. Downing only has 4 errors in his collegiate career with a .990 fielding percentage. 
-Senior CJ Kalekas is one of the right fielders and pitcher on the DU roster and returns with a .284 career batting average and a 7.63 career ERA. Kalekas threw 21.2 innings on the mound last season. On the offensive side, Kalekas collected 29 hits and 15 RBI's.
-Junior Zach Helein is a two-year left fielder for the Stars and has produced a lot in his time in a DU uniform. Helein holds a .300 career batting average with 36 total hits and 18 total RBI's. Helein does not make mistakes in the outfield with just 3 errors and holds a .966 fielding percentage in left field.  
-Senior Matthew Hannafin is returning from injury during his junior year and the Stars are excited to get the 6-2 righty back on the mound. Hannafin holds a 6.05 career ERA with 34 strikeouts through two full seasons of pitching. 
-Sophomore Langdon Downing is looking to make a big jump headed to his sophomore year. L. Downing is a 5-11 right-handed pitcher who threw 17.1 innings as a freshman. L.Downing collected 19 strikeouts in his freshman year. 



Scouting Report:
-St. Norbert is 5-6 on the 2025 season. 
-SNC finished the RussMatt with a 5-2 record.
-The Green Knights will have 3 games in 2 days, first facing UW-Eau Claire on Friday before taking on DU.