8 March 2000
CONTACT: Stew Salowitz, (309) 556-3206 or head coach Dennis Martel, (309) 556-3335
WEB SITE: http://www.iwu.edu/~iwunews/baseball.html
Pitching Looks to Carry Titan Baseball Squad
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — The strength of the Illinois Wesleyan University baseball team will again be the pitching staff and the success of the team will depend on how much offense and support that pitching staff receives.
IWU opens its 2000 campaign with a doubleheader Friday (March 10) in Conway, Ark., playing Hendrix at 12 p.m. and MacMurray at 3 p.m.
The Titans, who were 18-21 overall and won the South Divison of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin with a 10-8 mark, return 14 lettermen, including co-"Most Valuable Player" Matt Fehland.
The junior right-handed pitcher from Herscher (HS), an all-CCIW selection, led the Titans with a 5-4 record and a 2.22 earned run average. He struck out 72 batters, the second best single-season total at IWU, pitched 56 2/3 innings and threw four complete games.
Junior Adam Palmer (Naperville, North HS), who was 3-5 with a 5.40 ERA last year, will join Fehland as a starter along with junior Josh Ward (Lindenhurst, Carmel HS), sophomore Ben Pasulka (Chicago, Loyola Academy), and freshmen Steve Brook (Chicago Heights, Homewood-Flossmoor HS) and Steve Schilsky (Springfield, Sacred Heart Griffin).
Junior lefty Tom Jambrosek (Chicago, Holy Cross HS), who was 1-3 with a 2.89 ERA and was the squad's "Most Improved Player," has been slowed this spring with a shoulder injury.
"I'm really happy with how our pitchers have worked, improved, and developed," said head coach Dennis Martel. "We have five or six quality starting pitchers who can keep us in games for a long time and who can keep us from having losing streaks."
Three other freshmen, lefty Eric Zier (Lockport HS) and righties Scott Schiller (McHenry, Johnsburg HS) and Joel Franzen (Gifford, Rantoul HS), will bolster the mound staff.
Senior Jeff Clift (Manville, Streator Woodland HS) has moved to third base from shortstop, where senior David Nazha (Arlington Heights, Hersey HS) will take over. A three-year letterman, Clift batted .298 and led the team with 27 runs scored and 10 doubles last spring. Nazha batted .225 and was second on the team with 24 runs batted in.
Sophomore Nate Kren (Joliet, Catholic HS), last year's "Top Newcomer," returns at first base. In his first college season, Kren batted .257 with four doubles and 19 RBI.
"There's no question that veterans like Clift, Nazha, and Kren must show leadership and help get our offense kick-started instead of idling like we did last spring," said Martel, referring to the fact that IWU was limited to fewer than two runs in 10 games and batted only .254 in 1999.
Second base will be staffed by either junior Tony Merritt (Decatur, MacArthur HS), who batted .156 in 22 games last season, or freshman Ryan Gilfillan (Peoria, Notre Dame HS), an all-stater as a prep senior.
Junior Haneef Omar (Rockford, Guilford HS), who hit .263 with a team-high eight stolen bases, moves to rightfield from centerfield. Omar earned IWU's "Best Defensive Player" award as he made just two errors in 63 chances last spring.
Freshman Jeremy Hunt (Champaign, Centennial HS), another high school all-stater, will replace Omar in centerfield with either sophomores Rhett Stenzel (Channahon, Minooka HS) [.283 with two home runs in 46 at bats in 1999] or Jon Sikma (Momence HS) [.154 in 13 at bats] in left.
Junior Chad Rock (Roberts, Paxton-Buckley-Loda HS), who hit .238 last year, returns at catcher with help from freshman Chris Kaufman (Normal, West HS).