Pioneer baseball ready for season

Written by: Jeremy Williamson, Sports Information Assistant

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. -- After months of practicing in William's Fieldhouse, the Pioneer baseball team will hit the diamond led by three seniors and relying heavily of a plethora of experienced underclassmen, as they begin their conquest of the 2015 season in under a week.

The Three Seniors 

Head coach Eric Freese will be returning two senior pitchers and one outfielder for their fourth year playing ball.

Mike Boushley led the Pioneers' pitching squad last season, starting 11 out of the 10 games that he pitched in. Boushley was the only Pioneer thrower to be on the all-conference squad with a first-team award in the WIAC. He led the team in ERA (4.56), innings pitched (75) and strikeouts (66). Boushley racked up 11 of those 66 strikeouts against UW-Superior (April 17) for a season-high. He finished the season last year with a 4-4 record and looks to be the Pioneers' ace once again this season.

Trevor Hall, the Naperville native, is the other senior pitcher who will be looking to pick up where he left off last year before his season was cut short by an injury. Hall pitched in five games, all as a reliever, earning a 5.79 ERA over the span of 4.2 innings pitched.

Bobby Bean started ten of the 19 games that he played in last season, hitting for a .233 average with 30 appearances at the plate. The Dubuque native racked up seven hits and four RBI's to go along with an on-base-percentage of .368.

Experienced Underclassmen

The Pioneers will rely heavily this season, especially batting, on the numerous underclassmen who acquired much success last year behind the plate and on the mound.

Junior Casey Schroeder ended the 2014 season with the second highest batting average at .297, going 46-155, while starting all 40 games. He earned 23 runs and 23 RBI's with an on-base-percentage of .390.

Coming off an excellent sophomore year, George Jester III, the junior from Midlothian, will cover third base as well as look to have another great season behind the plate. Jester started 37 games, going 39-138 for a .283 batting average, while earning himself 16 runs and driving in 24 RBI's.

Junior catcher Todd Wienkes started 32 of the 39 games he played in, recording three hits in three separate games. Wienkes went 28-109 for a .257 BA, tied for fifth on the team with 15 RBIs and 12 walks drawn, led team in sac flies with three and threw out 27 opponents attempting to steal.

Junior outfielder Ryan Lehmann started 31 of the 38 games he played in, accumulating 23 runs, good for second highest on the team. Lehman hit 30-118 for a .254 average, with nine RBI's and an on-base-percentage of .353.

Austin Daniels, the junior from Miles, Iowa, started seven of the 12 games he pitched in, earning the most wins with a 5-2 record over 49 innings pitched, to go along with 33 strikeouts.

Young and Talented

The 2015 Pioneer baseball roster features eight freshmen, four of which are pitchers, two catchers and an in and outfielder. The ten sophomores on the team account for six of the Pioneers' pitching staff and four infielders.

Tough Schedule, As Always

Led by a strong group of batters and a solid returning pitching staff, the Pioneers will look to make a name for themselves early this year. The 2015 season begins with an eight game trip to Fort Meyers, Fla. for the annual Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic, from March 14 to 21. The men return to Kendall Murray Field on March 25 to take on Wheaton College for the team's first home game of the year. Conference play begins a few weeks later with a road trip to UW-Stout.

The Pioneers will have their work cut out again with another tough in-conference schedule. According to the latest NCAA rankings, the defending champion Warhawks of UW-Whitewater sit first in the country, while UW-Stevens Point is preseason ranked at number 10 and UW-La Crosse has received several votes.