Schaumburg, Ill. – Dominican University Baseball returns to NACC play with a doubleheader against Wisconsin Lutheran College at Wintrust Field on Saturday.
Series History vs. Wisconsin Lutheran:
Dominican and WLC first played on 4/20/2008 at Wintrust Field. The Stars swept the series 3-0 and 6-4.
All-Time Record / Streak: 18-14 / Dominican W7
Last Meeting (4/27/2024): DU swept WLC 9-5 and 15-14.
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 12-16 in the 2025 season and is 4-10 in NACC play.
Last Time Out:
-Dominican got back into the win column with a big win over Loras on Thursday (10-8).
-Junior
Zach Helein went 3-3 with 2 RBIs, 2 walks, and 3 runs scored.
-Senior
Gavin Zappe finished 1-3 with 3 RBIs.
-Senior
CJ Kalekas was 2-2 with an RBI and 2 walks.
Star Gazing:
-Graduate Student
Grayson Downing has 20 hits on the season while adding 7 RBIs.
-Junior
Matthew Earley has 29 hits and leads the team with 27 RBIs.
-Senior
Braiden Galvin is starting to hit the ball well for Dominican, with 23 hits and a .307 batting average.
-Sophomore
Ty Phillips has continued to be a huge factor for DU having a .387 batting average, with 29 hits and 10 RBIs.
-Junior
Zach Helein is starting to find his swing again moving his average to .297 at the plate alongside 30 hits and 18 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 14 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 2.19 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:
-Wisconsin Lutheran currently sits with a 13-14 overall record and is 8-6 in NACC play.
-The Warriors most recently dropped both games of a doubleheader against Benedictine on Tuesday (21-5, 7-2).
-WLC is hitting .311 as a team and have scored 224 runs on the season.
-The Warriors have a 7.25 team ERA and have given up 177 earned runs on the season.
-Wisconsin Lutheran College is fielding at a .943 rate with 54 errors on the year.
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