Throughout the 2018-19 academic year, the Great Lakes Valley Conference is celebrating its 40th anniversary by recognizing 40 teams that made a significant impact both on campus and at the Conference level. Our next featured team is the 2018 Illinois Springfield baseball squad.
40 TEAMS | 40 YEARS
WEEK 32: 2018 Illinois Springfield Baseball
SEASON SUMMARY
The 2018 UIS baseball program put together a season to be remembered after going 47-9 and with a 23-1 record in GLVC play, setting school records in wins and league wins. The Prairie Stars secured its first-ever GLVC East Division title and received their first-ever bid to the NCAA Tournament. UIS peaked at No. 4 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association (NCBWA) NCAA Division II poll, No. 5 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (CBN) NCAA Division II poll and No. 2 in the Perfect Game NCAA Division II poll. During the season, the Prairie Stars compiled a record-setting 29-game winning streak. At UIS Baseball Field, the Prairie Stars finished the season with a 24-1 record with their only loss coming in extra innings on March 10. The Prairie Stars topped the NCAA Division II Midwest Region rankings to earn the right to host last year's NCAA Midwest Regional. The Prairie Stars totaled with 12 GLVC All-East Division selections, including seven first-team selections in Nick Stokowski, Michael Rothmund, Cole Taylor, Jack Schaaf, Andrew Dean, Justin Revels and Cameron Zunkel. Rothmund was a unanimous first-team recipient. UIS turned in a record-setting five All-Region selections with Dean, Revels, Rothmund, Stokowski and Cole Taylor being named consensus All-Region recipients. The five were all selected to the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-Midwest Region First Team. Stokowski followed up by being recognized as a consensus first-team All-American. Cole Taylor was tabbed a consensus All-American and Rothmund was named an ABCA third-team All-American. Head Coach Chris Ramirez earned the program's first major GLVC postseason award after receiving the GLVC Coach of the Year. He followed up by being tabbed the NCBWA NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year. Statistically, UIS established itself as one of the nation's top offenses after leading the country in home runs per game (1.86), slugging percentage (.581) and runs per game (9.4). The Prairie Stars also ranked second in on-base percentage (.433), seventh in doubles per game (2.36) and ninth in batting average (.327) among NCAA Division II leaders. UIS also built one of nation's top pitching staffs. Among NCAA Division II leaders, UIS ranked first in hits allowed per nine innings (6.80), sixth in ERA (3.16), sixth in WHIP (1.24) and 10th in strikeouts per nine innings (10.0). UIS led the conference in six major offensive categories and four major pitching categories.
IMPRESSIVE INDIVIDUALS
Michael Rothmund
- ABCA All-America Third Team (2018)
- ABCA All-Midwest Region First Team (2018)
- D2CCA All-Midwest Region Second Team (2018)
- Unanimous All-GLVC First Team (2018)
Nick Stokowski
- ABCA All-Midwest Region First Team (2018)
- D2CCA All-Midwest Region First Team (2018)
- All-GLVC First Team (2018)
Cole Taylor
- Consensus All-America (2018)
- ABCA All-Midwest Region First Team (2018)
- D2CCA All-Midwest Region First Team (2018)
- All-GLVC First Team (2018)
Jack Shaaf
- All-GLVC First Team (2018)
Andrew Dean
- ABCA All-Midwest Region First Team (2018)
- D2CCA All-Midwest Region First Team (2018)
- All-GLVC First Team (2018)
Justin Revels
- ABCA All-Midwest Region First Team (2018)
- D2CCA All-Midwest Region Second Team (2018)
- All-GLVC First Team (2018)
Cameron Zunkel
- All-GLVC First Team (2018)
Chris Ramirez
- NCBWA NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year (2018)
- GLVC Coach of the Year (2018)
LASTING LEGACY
With just one year removed from the 2018 season, it was clear that the Prairie Stars still had the attention of national organizations prior to the 2019 campaign. In select preseason polls, UIS was ranked No. 15 by the NCBWA, No. 17 by CBN and No. 22 by Perfect Game. The Prairie Stars also picked up a No. 2 ranking in the NCBWA Midwest Region poll. On the NCBWA Preseason All-Midwest Region team, Andrew Dean, Justin Revels and John Sechen each received first-team honors while Cameron Zunkel picked up second-team recognition. Revels was then tabbed an NCBWA preseason second-team All-American while Dean received NCBWA preseason All-America Honorable Mention. After securing the GLVC East Division crown last year, UIS is making a late-season push in an attempt to win the regular-season title in 2019, which has been highlighted by winning 13 straight games to enter the final week of the season.