Winter Haven, Fla. – Dominican University Baseball continues the RussMatt Invitational. 

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 last year, the Stars hit with a .292 batting average and a 7.20 team ERA.

-The Stars will play 8 games over an 8 day stretch (Saturday, March 1st to Saturday, March 8th) at the RussMatt Baseball Invitational.

-Dominican went 6-2 at the 2024 RussMatt Baseball Invitational, including two wins over Penn State Altoona, two wins over Russell Sage, and wins over Saint Mary’s Minnesota and Saint Vincent.

Last Time Out:
-The Stars are 2-2 at the midway point of the RussMatt Invitational, defeating Pittsburgh at Greensburg and St. Vincent while falling to Carthage and Dubuque.
-Graduate Student Grayson Downing leads the Stars with 7 hits at the RussMatt Invitational.
-Junior Matthew Earley has collected 4 RBIs in the four games in Winter Haven. 
-Sophomore Langdon Downing and Sophomore Casey Myczek picked up the wins for DU.

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. 

 

GAME 5

Series History vs. Northland:

Dominican and Northland College first played on 3/4/2014 in Fort Myers, Fla (W 12/Inn, 3-1) 
All-Time Record / Streak: 2-1 / Dominican L1
Last Meeting (4/24/2017): Dominican 7, Northland 8

Scouting Report vs. Northland:

-Northland College is 0-4 on the 2025 season. 

-The Jacks open their RussMatt Invitational slate against Mount St. Joseph on Tuesday, March 4th.

GAME 6 and 7 (Double Header)

Series History vs. Mount St. Joseph:

First Ever Meeting between DU and Mount St. Joseph. 

Scouting Report vs. Mount St. Joseph:

-Mount St. Joseph is 5-1 on the 2025 season. 

-The Lions are 3-0 at the RussMatt Invitational, defeating NACC opponent Concordia Chicago and North Central Minnesota twice.

-MSJ faces Northland College and Moravian University before their double header with the Stars on Friday.

GAME 8

Series History vs. Albion:

Dominican and Albion College had their one and only meeting on 3/3/2024 in Winter Haven, Fla (L, 2-6) 
All-Time Record / Streak: 0-1 / Dominican L1

Scouting Report vs. Albion:

-Albion is 1-3 on the 2025 season.

-The Britons opened the RussMatt Invitational on Monday with a loss to Illinois College by a final of 2-3.