WAVERLY, Iowa – Wartburg baseball opens the 2023 season at the RussMatt Invitational in Florida, where the Knights will play nine games in eight days. Wartburg will begin play on Sunday, Feb. 26 with a doubleheader against the Milwaukee School of Engineering starting at 12 p.m. eastern time.
Last Season
The Knights closed the 2022 season 25-21 overall and made a run to the American Rivers Conference Tournament championship game as the six seed.
Wartburg had three student athletes earn All-Region honors last season as
Dylan Gotto,
Max Goodhue and
Zach Walton were all Third-team selections.
Walton had a career season in 2022, setting the single season record for walks drawn (39) and tying the single season record for home runs in a season with 13. The Farmington, Minn. native led the A-R-C in six categories last season including: home runs, runs batted in, runs scored, slugging percentage, on-base percentage and walks drawn.
Both
Keaton Gray and
Caleb Andrews had career high averages at the plate a season ago. Gray finished 2022 with a batting average of .359 and 45 RBIs after starting all 46 games a season ago. Andrews appeared in all 46 games in 2022 and finished with an average of .352.
Season Preview
The Knights will play 18 games at Harms Stadium at Hertel Field this season with the home opener being Saturday, Mar. 11 against Saint Mary's University at 1 p.m.
Wartburg begins A-R-C play on Friday, Mar. 24 with a home series against Loras.
This year's team will return nine fielders who saw action in at least 30 games as well as five of the top seven hitters from a season ago.
Wartburg welcomes 11 first-year players to the program this season, including four players from outside of Iowa.
The Knights return two of their top four starting pitchers from a season ago in
Joey Ciero and
Dreyton LaVeine, who combined for 25 appearances (17 starts) for a total of 101.3 innings pitched.
Aaron Eybers, who is currently third all-time in appearances (63) and saves (10) in program history, is also returning to this year's pitching staff.
Walton leads all returning fielders with a fielding percentage of .994, which ranks third all-time in a career. Andrews has a career fielding percentage of .942 over two seasons of play at second base.
Carter Stubitz is currently fifth all-time in runners caught stealing with 23 in 66 career starts.
