Tag Archives: Justin Conant

Indiana Wesleyan U. keeps racking up stolen bases

By STEVE KRAH
http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Indiana Wesleyan steals bases at the rate of 4.18 per game.
Led by Lucas Goodin (25), M.J. Stavola (23), Caleb Engelsman (20) and Jake Thompson (18), the NAIA Wildcats have swiped 134 as a team — the most among all 39 college baseball teams in Indiana so far in 2023.
Among NAIA teams, IUPU-Columbus (97) is next, followed by Oakland City (71), Huntington (69), Bethel (62), Grace (59), IU-Kokomo (55), Saint Francis (48), Marian (39), IU Southeast (38), Taylor (36), Calumet of St. Joseph (34), IU South Bend (33), Indiana Tech (29) and Goshen (14).
Paced by Couper Cornblum (14), Mike Bolton Jr. (12) and Evan Albrecht (11), Purdue (56) leads NCAA D-I teams.
Next is Southern Indiana (36), Ball State (31), Notre Dame (30), Evansville (29), Indiana (27), Butler (24), Purdue Fort Wayne (23), Indiana State (15) and Valparaiso (15).
Guiding NCAA D-II leader Indianapolis (62) is Caleb Vaughn (21), Jared Bujdos (11) and Easton Good (10).
Purdue Northwest (19) is the state’s other D-II program.
NCAA D-III base pilferers are Earlham (53), Franklin (53), Anderson (24), Manchester (33), DePauw (21), Hanover (21), Wabash (21), Trine (18) and Rose-Hulman (16).
Nathan Lancianese (10) is out front for Earlham with Tysen Lipscomb (11) and A.J. Sanders (10) spearheading Franklin.
Among junior college teams, there’s Ivy Tech Northeast (52), Vincennes (50) and Marian’s Ancilla (20).
Ivan Balboa (13) leads Ivy Tech and Ethan Burdette (13) Vincennes.

Individual leaders:
Wyatt Sutton (IUPU-Columbus) 27
Lucas Goodin (Indiana Wesleyan) 25
M.J. Stavola (Indiana Wesleyan) 23
Langston Ginder (Huntington) 22
Jeremy Wiersema (Bethel) 22
Caleb Vaughn (Indianapolis) 21
Caleb Engelsman (Indiana Wesleyan) 20
Maximo DeLeon (Grace) 19
Jake Thompson (Indiana Wesleyan) 18
Xavier Croxton (Saint Francis) 15
Couper Cornblum (Purdue) 14
Xander Willis (Oakland City) 14

Ivan Balboa (Ivy Tech Northeast) 13
Ethan Burdette (Vincennes) 13
Mike Bolton Jr. (Purdue) 12
Caden Mason (Marian) 12
Logan Smith (IU South Bend) 12
Evan Albrecht (Purdue) 11
Noah Baugher (Oakland City) 11
Conner Beatty (IUPU-Columbus) 11
Trevor Campbell (IU Southeast) 11
Jared Bujdos (Indianapolis) 11
Riley Garczynski (IU-Kokomo) 11
Tysen Lipscomb (Franklin) 11
Luke Montgomery (Purdue Northwest) 11
Coby Campbell (IU South Bend) 10
Phillip Glasser (Indiana) 10
Easton Good (Indianapolis) 10
Evan Kahre (Southern Indiana) 10
Nathan Lancianese (Earlham) 10
Brenden Lytle (Saint Francis) 10
Anthony Miranda (Bethel) 10
Ryan Peltier (Ball State) 10
Eric Roberts (Evansville) 10
A.J. Sanders (Franklin) 10
Satchell Wilson (Huntington) 10
Kade Kline (Rose-Hulman) 9
Jayden Lepper (Saint Francis) 9
Jackson Paradise (IUPU-Columbus) 9
Luke Picchiotti (Taylor) 9
Sam Pinckert (Oakland City) 9
Aron Busick (Oakland City) 8
Seth Gergely (Indiana State) 8
Trey Heidlage (Marian) 8
Christian Lancianese (Earlham) 8
Jack Leverenz (IU-Kokomo) 8
Ian McCutcheon (Huntington) 8
Sam Newkirk (Grace) 8
Cyrus Robinson (IUPU-Columbus) 8
Mason White (IU Southeast) 8
Alex Yurt (IU Southeast) 8
Victor Alvarez (Oakland City) 7
Peyton Blinn (IUPU-Columbus) 7
Jake Danneman (Hanover) 7
Colin Fee (IUPU-Columbus) 7
Sean Jeffries (Earlham) 7
Keenan LeBlanc (Grace) 7
Darrius Little (Calumet of St. Joseph) 7
Cameron Macon (DePauw) 7
Noah Matheson (Ivy Tech Northeast) 7
Ty Mathews (Indiana Wesleyan) 7
Sean Moore (Calumet of St. Joseph) 7
Caleb Niehaus (Southern Indiana) 7
Jeff Pawlik (Grace) 7
J.J. Rivera (Marian) 7
Luke Roman (Indiana Wesleyan) 7
Ren Tachioka (Southern Indiana) 7
Greg Vineyard (Indiana Wesleyan) 7
Noah Wood (Franklin) 7
Alec Beatty (IUPU-Columbus) 6
Raef Biddle (Grace) 6
Brooks Coetzee (Notre Dame) 6
Brandon DeWitt (Indianapolis) 6
Carter Dorighi (Butler) 6
Colton Evans (Vincennes) 6
Kaleb Fritz (Ivy Tech Northeast) 6
Payton Hall (Oakland City) 6
Rocco Hanes (Manchester) 6
Trey Johnson (IUPU-Columbus) 6
Kaleb Kolpien (Taylor) 6
Robert Kortas (Trine) 6
Eli MacDonald (Bethel) 6
Mac Moore (Earlham) 6
Jeff Morton (Indiana Wesleyan) 6
Jack Penney (Notre Dame) 6
Tucker Platt (IU-Kokomo) 6
Jayden Reed (Indiana Tech) 6
Kyle Schmack (Valparaiso) 6
Alex Stout (Bethel) 6
Sean Sullivan (Franklin) 6
Adam Tellier (Ball State) 6
Quinn Willard (Indiana Wesleyan) 6
Owen Benson (IU South Bend) 5
Connor Boone (Marian’s Ancilla) 5
Nolan Bowser (IU-Kokomo) 5
Tyler Cerny (Indiana) 5
Justin Conant (Ball State) 5
Mason David (Taylor) 5
Jake DeFries (Butler) 5
Thomas Dolan (Bethel) 5
Kamden Earley (Wabash) 5
Brennan Frickel (Taylor) 5
Maurey Garrett Jr. (Calumet of St. Joseph) 5
Jarrett Gray (Huntington) 5
Kaleb Hannahs (Valparaiso) 5
Chase Hug (Evansville) 5
Rylan Huntley (Marian) 5
Tyler Jakob (Huntington) 5
Jake Jarvis (Purdue) 5
William Johnson (Ivy Tech Northeast) 5
Kallen Kelsheimer (Huntington) 5
Jonathan LaGuire (Franklin) 5
Vian Mariani (Manchester) 5
Nolan McKim (Indiana Tech) 5
Trevor Patterson (Indiana Tech) 5
Harrison Pittsford (Manchester) 5
Gabriel Quinones (Calumet of St. Joseph) 5
Luke Renard (Anderson) 5
Adam Stefanelli (Trine) 5
Tarron White (Ivy Tech Northeast) 5
Matt Wolff (Huntington) 5

A check of D-I standings sees Ball State in first in the Mid-American Conference, Indiana tied for first in the Big Ten Conference and Indiana State tied for first in the Missouri Valley Conference.
In NCAA D-IIII, Rose-Hulman is in first in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference and Trine atop the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Associaton.
In the NAIA, Indiana Wesleyan leads the Crossroads League.
The top current win streaks are owned by NAIA Indiana University Southeast 11, NCAA D-III Rose-Hulman six, NCAA D-III Franklin five, NAIA Indiana Wesleyan four and NCAA D-I Indiana three.

Below are season records, weekly results and links to web pages, schedules and statistics.

INDIANA COLLEGE BASEBALL
Records Through April 2
NCAA D-I
Ball State 20-7 (10-2 MAC)
Indiana 20-8 (5-1 Big Ten)
Evansville 16-11 (3-3 MVC)
Notre Dame 14-11 (5-7 ACC)
Indiana State 14-12 (5-1 MVC)
Purdue 12-14 (3-3 Big Ten)
Valparaiso 8-12 (0-5 MVC)
Southern Indiana 8-20 (1-5 OVC)
Purdue Fort Wayne 8-20 (5-4 Horizon)
Butler 7-20 (0-0 Big East)

Schedule Links
Ball State
Butler
Evansville
Indiana
Indiana State
Notre Dame
Purdue
Purdue Fort Wayne
Southern Indiana
Valparaiso

Stat Links
Ball State
Butler
Evansville
Indiana
Indiana State
Notre Dame
Purdue
Purdue Fort Wayne
Southern Indiana
Valparaiso

NCAA D-II
Indianapolis 14-11 (2-0 GLVC)
Purdue Northwest 5-17 (1-7 GLIAC)

Schedule Links
Indianapolis
Purdue Northwest

Stat Links
Indianapolis
Purdue Northwest

NCAA D-III
Franklin 14-6 (4-1 HCAC)
Earlham 14-7 (4-2 HCAC)
Wabash 14-9 (0-2 NCAC)
Rose-Hulman 13-6 (5-0 HCAC)
Anderson 12-9 (2-4 HCAC)
Trine 11-9 (2-0 MIAA)
Manchester 10-11 (1-4 HCAC)
Hanover 7-13 (1-4 HCAC)
DePauw 5-11 (0-0 NCAC)

Schedule Links
Anderson
DePauw
Earlham
Franklin
Hanover
Manchester
Rose-Hulman
Trine
Wabash

Stat Links
Anderson
DePauw
Earlham
Franklin
Hanover
Manchester
Rose-Hulman
Trine
Wabash

NAIA
Oakland City 22-12 (6-9 RSC)
Taylor 23-11 (16-4 CL)
Huntington 21-10 (15-5 CL)
Indiana Wesleyan 20-11-1 (15-3 CL)
IU Southeast 17-13 (11-4 RSC)
Indiana Tech 16-7 (4-4 WHAC)
IU-Kokomo 16-13 (7-6 RSC)
Grace 13-14 (5-11 CL)
Marian 13-15 (7-9 CL)
Bethel 13-19 (6-14 CL)
Calumet of St. Joseph 13-20 (5-7 CCAC)
Saint Francis 12-16 (7-9 CL)
IU South Bend 11-17 (7-3 CCAC)
Goshen 7-21 (3-13 CL)
IUPU-Columbus 1-30

Schedule Links
Bethel
Calumet of St. Joseph
Goshen
Grace
Huntington
IU-Kokomo
IUPU-Columbus
IU South Bend
IU Southeast
Indiana Tech
Indiana Wesleyan
Marian
Oakland City
Saint Francis
Taylor

Stat Links
Bethel
Calumet of St. Joseph
Goshen
Grace
Huntington
IU-Kokomo
IUPU-Columbus
IU South Bend
IU Southeast
Indiana Tech
Indiana Wesleyan
Marian
Oakland City
Saint Francis
Taylor

Junior College
Vincennes 16-16 (4-4 MWAC)
Ivy Tech Northeast 14-13
Marian’s Ancilla 3-19 (2-2 MCCAA)

Schedule Links
Ivy Tech Northeast
Marian’s Ancilla
Vincennes

Stat Links
Ivy Tech Northeast
Marian’s Ancilla
Vincennes

Through April 2
NCAA D-I
Tuesday, March 28
Ball State 7, Southern Indiana 6 (11 inn.)
Notre Dame 4, Butler 0
Indiana 4, Kent State 3
Indiana State 8, Purdue 2
Bowling Green 7, Purdue Fort Wayne 4
Valparaiso 7, Milwaukee 6 (11 inn.)

Wednesday, March 29
Southeast Missouri 10, Evansville 4

Thursday, March 30

Ivy Tech Northeast 6, Indiana Tech JV 1

Ivy Tech Northeast 10, Indiana Tech JV 8

Friday, March 31
Akron 4, Ball State 0
Illinois-Chicago 10, Indiana State 7
North Carolina 10, Notre Dame 8
Purdue 8, Northwestern 4
Youngstown State 12, Purdue Fort Wayne 9
Lindenwood 6, Southern Indiana 3

Saturday, April 1
Eastern Illinois 12, Butler 0
Belmont 8, Evansville 1
Penn State 7, Indiana 2
Youngstown State 15, Purdue Fort Wayne 14
Lindenwood 6, Southern Indiana 3

Sunday, April 2
Ball State 11, Akron 6
Ball State 9, Akron 1
Butler 6, Eastern Illinois 5 (14 inn.)
Butler 2, Eastern Illinois 0
Belmont 9, Evansville 2
Belmont 7, Evansville 5 (13 inn.)
Indiana 4, Penn State 1
Indiana 22, Penn State 11
Indiana State 13, Illinois-Chicago 7
Indiana State 10, Illinois-Chicago 1
North Carolina 5, Notre Dame 2
Notre Dame 9, North Carolina 1
Northwestern 7, Purdue 3
Purdue 4, Northwestern 3 (10 inn.)
Purdue Fort Wayne 9, Youngstown State 3
Southern Indiana 12, Lindenwood 9
Murray State 14, Valparaiso 3
Murray State 14, Valparaiso 5

NCAA D-II
Monday, March 27
Grand Valley State 7, Purdue Northwest 3
Purdue Northwest 7, Grand Valley State 2

Tuesday, March 28
Indianapolis 14, Findlay 8

Friday, March 31
Davenport 5, Purdue Northwest 1
Davenport 3, Purdue Northwest 2

Saturday, April 1
Indianapolis 13, Missouri-St. Louis 6
Missouri-St. Louis 7, Indianapolis 5

Sunday, April 2
Missouri-St. Louis 3, Indianapolis 2
Indianapolis 18, Missouri-St. Louis 8
Wayne State 5, Purdue Northwest 0
Wayne State 6, Purdue Northwest 5

NCAA D-III
Monday, March 27
Southwestern 10, DePauw 9
Wabash 7, Illinois Wesleyan 4

Tuesday, March 28
Bluffton 4, Anderson 2
Southwestern 8, DePauw 1
Alma 14, Earlham 5
Franklin 10, Millikin 4
Manchester 15, Hope 6
Ohio Northern 5, Trine 3

Wednesday, March 29
Texas Lutheran 9, DePauw 0
Texas Lutheran 9, DePauw 0
Rose-Hulman 6, Wabash 0

Saturday, April 1
Earlham 12, Anderson 8
Transylvania 10, Manchester 9
Transylvania 9, Manchester 0
Rose-Hulman 8, Mount St. Joseph 5

Sunday, April 2
Anderson 5, Earlham 0
Earlham 9, Anderson 8
Franklin 13, Hanover 6
Franklin 18, Hanover 8
Rose-Hulman 10, Mount St. Joseph 8
Rose-Hulman 10, Mount St. Joseph 9
Trine 5, Olivet 0
Trine 7, Olivet 3
Denison 10, Wabash 4
Denison 11, Wabash 1

NAIA
Monday, March 27
Indiana Wesleyan 19, Goshen 0
Mount Vernon Nazarene 10, Grace 4
Grace 4, Mount Vernon Nazarene 2
Ohio Christian 9, IU-Kokomo 8

Tuesday, March 28
Trinity Christian 15, Calumet of St. Joseph
IU-Kokomo 13, Georgetown (Ky.) 4
IU South Bend 7, Judson 3

Wednesday, March 29
IU Southeast 19, Lindsey Wilson 8
Indiana Tech 16, Indiana Wesleyan 10

Thursday, March 30
Indiana Wesleyan 10, Bethel 3
Indiana Wesleyan 7, Bethel 4
Calumet of St. Joseph 7, Saint Xavier 4
Goshen 11, Grace 5
Grace 9, Goshen 7
Taylor 15, Huntington 11
Taylor 4, Huntington 2
Midway 13, IU-Kokomo 1
Midway 10, IU-Kokomo 7
Asbury 14, IUPU-Columbus 4
Asbury 12, IUPU-Columbus 8
IU Southeast 11, Oakland City 6
Marian 6, Mount Vernon Nazarene 5
Marian 5, Mount Vernon Nazarene 3
Spring Arbor 5, Saint Francis 1
Saint Francis 7, Spring Arbor 5

Friday, March 31
Indiana Wesleyan 13, Bethel 3
Indiana Wesleyan 8, Bethel 3
Huntington 11, Taylor 9
Huntington 9, Taylor 7 (8 inn.)

Sunday, April 2
Saint Xavier 5, Calumet of St. Joseph 0
Calumet of St. Joseph 2, Saint Xavier 1
IU South Bend 12, Saint Ambrose 3
Saint Ambrose 1, IU South Bend 0
IU Southeast 4, Oakland City 2
IU Southeast 11, Oakland City 3
Madonna 4, Indiana Tech 2
Madonna 15, Indiana Tech 5 (8 inn.)

Junior College
Monday, March 27
McHenry County 4, Ivy Tech Northeast 0
McHenry County 8, Ivy Tech Northeast 0
Illinois Central 7, Vincennes 5
Illinois Central 8, Vincennes 2

Wednesday, March 29
Vincennes 12, Olney Central 6

Thursday, March 30
Lansing 13, Marian’s Ancilla 3
Frontier 4, Vincennes 2

Sunday, April 2
Vincennes 12, Frontier 4

Ball State leads nation in RPI, Strength of Schedule

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Making memories against formidable foes.

That’s one thing Ball State University head baseball coach Rich Maloney considers when putting together the Cardinals schedule.

When the opportunity came to open the season at perennial powerhouse Arizona, Maloney jumped at it.

Kent State had planned to visit the Wildcats, but was not allowed to travel.

Maloney asked Ball State director of athletics Beth Goetz about taking the place of their Mid-American Conference partners.

“We’ve got a veteran team,” says Maloney of his sales pitch to Goetz. “They didn’t get to go last year (because of a pandemic-shortened 2020 season). They’re hungry. We wanted to be able to go somewhere and play.

“I try to schedule really good opponents and get the kids to have the opportunity for experiences that they can remember and go to places they’ll never forget.”

A couple of items sweetened the deal. Arizona offered a guarantee in case the series could not be played because of COVID-19.

Also, one of Maloney’s former players at Michigan — Derek Kerr — is an Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at American Airlines and that just happens to be the carrier the Cards chose to take to Tucson.

“It was totally incidental,” says Maloney. “I called and asked Derek if there was any way he could help Coach out and get an extension in case we got hit with COVID and couldn’t make the trip to Arizona. He promised and that’s what gave Beth Goetz the green light to say it’s OK to schedule the flight.

“Our guys have done a nice job of staying in their bubble the best they can and we’ve been able to make these trips.”

With senior right-handed pitcher John Baker playing a major role, Ball State split four games Feb. 19-22 at Arizona, went 2-1 Feb. 26-27 against Bradley in Normal, Ill., and 2-1 March 5-7 at Kentucky for a 6-4 start to 2021 season.

Baker has made four appearances (three in relief) and is 1-0 with a 1.45 earned run average. Opponents are hitting .127 against him.

“He should have gone to pro ball a long time ago,” says Maloney of Baker. “He has amazing moxie. 

“He’s so underrated. He has the ‘It’ factor.”

Senior left-hander Lukas Jaksich (2-0), junior right-hander Chayce McDermott (1-0), junior Tyler Ruetschle (1-1) and sophomore right-hander Andre Oreselli (1-0) have accounted for the other mound victories.

In Sunday’s 4-3 win at UK, the Cards’ starting batting order featured junior second baseman Noah Navarro, freshman designated hitter Decker Scheffler, senior right fielder Ross Messina, junior first baseman Trenton Quartermaine, senior catcher Chase Sebby, junior left fielder Nick Powell, sophomore third baseman Ryan Peltier, sophomore shortstop Justin Conant and senior center fielder Aaron Simpson.

Those nine represent 521 games (with 465 starts) in their Ball State careers. 

Sebby, the 2019 MAC Defensive Player of the Year, has started 122 of his 130 games while Messina and Simpson have started all 83 times they’ve been in the lineup.

“We’ve got a great bunch,” says Maloney. “It’s a fun team to coach. They’re highly-competitive and they’re experienced.

“They’ve done some pretty incredible things in the first couple of weekends. I’m certainly happy for them. They’ve created some great memories. But we’ve got a long way to go. We can get a lot better than we are.”

Maloney says he is encouraged by the “grit” of his team, which has several players back — right-handed fireballers Drey Jameson and Kyle Nicolas being the notable exceptions — from that went 38-19 overall and 20-5 in the MAC while Central Michigan was having stronger year at 47-14 and 22-5.

“In any other year we would have been a (conference) champion,” says Maloney. 

WarrenNolan.com has Ball State No. 1 in both RPI and Strength of Schedule among NCAA Division I programs. Indiana State is No. 9 and No. 10, Notre Dame No. 20 and No. 35.

Maloney says high-profile wins can only help the Cards.

“Over the years we’ve been good enough to be in the NCAA tournament but because (the MAC) has been a one-team bid we just haven’t been able to get over the top in tournament play.

“The RPI — the power of the league — has held us back.”

When Maloney was head coach at Michigan, the Big Ten had bids for the conference champion and an at-large bid — something not enjoyed by the MAC.

“I talk about it a lot with the other coaches. There’s going when we can get two teams in. I don’t know if this is the year or not. Our conference is winning some games out of conference.

“The Mid-American Conference is at the highest level its been in a long, long time.”

For example: Kent State beat No. 2-ranked Mississippi State Saturday, March 6.

“The difference between David and Goliath isn’t really that big,” say Maloney.

Next up for Ball State is a three-game series March 12-14 at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va.

The Cardinals is scheduled to open the home portion of their season with a four-game set March 19-21 against MAC foe Western Michigan.