WAVERLY, Iowa-- Wartburg was selected to win the Iowa Conference Championship in the preseason coaches poll under 23^rd year head coach, Joel Holst. The Knights have won 27 IIAC Championships in Holst's time, 16 regular season and 11 tournament titles.

There are 42 players on the roster, and 12 of those are seniors. "We are a very veteran group, especially from a position player standpoint," said Holst.

"I always talk about how you need to build your team from the middle," he continued. "The strength is definitely there with all that we return."

This includes three seniors who were all First-team All-Conference selections, in catcher Cody Hyler (Des Moines), second baseman Eric Willis (Waverly), and center fielder Blake Mahoney (Des Moines). Classmate Clay Henning (Plymouth, Wis.) has been a two-year starter at shortstop for the Knights that will add to this strength.



Holst sees senior Zach Hovick (Roland) shifting to play third base after playing first last season.

There is a mix of players that will contribute in the outfield in seniors David Fitzgerald (Dubuque) and Clint Kannegieter (Aplington), and sophomore Tyler Nunemaker (Ely). All have been waiting their turn to get their chance with talent in classes ahead of them.  Mahoney will anchor the center field and Holst sees freshman JoJo McNair potentially seeing time in left. "JoJo is one of the most athletic kids I've ever seen on a baseball field," said Holst. "He was a First-team All-Conference selection in football as a freshman, and you just don't see that a lot."

There are 20 pitchers in the program and Holst sees the staff having a strong nucleus. The top returner that was in the starting rotation is senior Tanner Eckhart (Monticello, Minn.) who was an All-Conference selection his sophomore year. "Tanner just kind of had a 'tough luck' kind of year last season," said Holst. "I think he was pitching to the radar gun early last year and just wasn't all the healthy. He was our most dominant pitcher his sophomore year and I'm hoping we can get him back to that level."

Seniors Austin Bohling (Letts) and Chris Tomkins (Dubuque) threw over 70 innings in relief last year and Bohling was 6-1 with a 0.89 ERA. "Most pitchers want to be starters," said Holst. "Austin has really been working pretty hard to see if we can work him into a starting role.

"We have some other guys that will get a chance to contribute as there was more talent ahead of them in previous years," he continued. "There are a few weeks in the conference schedule where you're going to need five starters."

Some of those guys in the mix include senior Nate Brown (Des Moines), freshman Dylan Gotto (Peosta), sophomore Ben Milewski (Lake Villa, Ill.), who pitched in the NCAA Regional, and classmate Tony Rex (Oelwein).

The Knights will open the season against Bethel University in US Bank Stadium on Feb. 27. Then, the Orange and Black will take their annual spring break trip to Florida this year.

"We're excited about our nonconference schedule," said Holst. "It is really tough. We play seven teams that were in NCAA Regionals or won their conference last year."

The scheduled home opener features a weekend series against No. 6 Concordia Chicago and St. Thomas March 16-18. That next weekend, Wartburg will travel to the St. Louis area to play Rose Hulman and Webster. The Gorloks will later serve as hosts for the NCAA Central Regional for the third-straight year.