Schaumburg, Ill. – Dominican University Baseball returns home for a standalone non-conference game against Loras College on Thursday.
Series History vs. Loras:
Dominican and MSOE first played on 4/21/2011 at Wintrust Field. The Stars were defeated 9-0.
All-Time Record / Streak: 1-5 / Dominican L4
Last Meeting (4/15/2021): Loras swept DU 13-2 and 5-2.
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 during the 2024 campaign.
-DU heads into 2025 looking to make the conference tournament for the first time since 2019.
-As a team, the Stars hit with a .264 batting average and a 7.93 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 11-16 in the 2025 season and is 4-10 in NACC play.
Last Time Out:
-Dominican dropped both games of their doubleheader at MSOE on Saturday (11-6, 14-4).
-Junior
Niko Krecu had 2 home runs and 5 RBIs on the day.
-Senior
Quinton Schwartz went 3-5 in Game 1.
-Senior
Michael Christopher finished 2-4 with 2 RBIs in Game 1.
Star Gazing:
-Graduate Student
Grayson Downing has 20 hits on the season while adding 7 RBIs.
-Junior
Matthew Earley has 28 hits and leads the team with 26 RBIs.
-Senior
Braiden Galvin is starting to hit the ball well for Dominican, with 21 hits and a .296 batting average.
-Sophomore
Ty Phillips has continued to be a huge factor for DU having a .389 batting average, with 28 hits and 10 RBIs.
-Junior
Zach Helein is starting to find his swing again moving his average to .276 at the plate alongside 27 hits and 16 RBIs.
-Senior
CJ Kalekas has continued to be a stellar two-way player. On the hill, Kalekas is 3-2 with a 5.74 ERA in his 31.1 innings pitched. Offensively the Senior has 12 hits.
-Freshman
Ethan Buckner has shined since putting on a Stars uniform with a 3.90 ERA and a 2-3 record on the mound.
-Freshman
Koufax Cranmer has found his role as the team's closer with 3 saves, a 0.79 ERA, and a 2-0 record.
Familiar Faces:
Dominican returns Graduate Student
Grayson Downing after only playing 17 games in his senior year. G. Downing is a lockdown centerfielder who has a career batting average of .363 in his 127 games in a Stars uniform. He has only made 4 errors in his collegiate career and a .990 fielding percentage.
-Senior
CJ Kalekas is one of the right fielders and pitchers 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 RBIs.
-Junior
Zach Helein is a two-year left fielder for the Stars and has produced much in his time in a DU uniform. Helein holds a .300 career batting average with 36 total hits and 18 total RBIs. 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:
-Loras currently sits with a 16-15 overall record.
-The Duhawks are amid a two-game losing streak, falling to Simpson College and Luther College.
-Loras is hitting .313 as a team and have scored 255 runs on the season.
-The Duhawks have a 6.71 team ERA and has given up 188 earned runs on the season.
-Loras College is fielding at a .960 rate with 42 errors on the year.
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