The Viterbo men’s baseball team wrapped up their first full season under head coach Jon Grana this past weekend. The V-Hawks finished with an overall record of 24-23 with a conference record of 19-13. This finish leaves the squad tied for third in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC), only one game back from second place and four games back from first place.
Throughout the season, the V-Hawks caught stride and broke records. The team got hot at the right time and went on an eight-game winning streak in the middle of the season. This helped increase the gap between them and other conference foes chasing a higher record. In addition to the winning streak, the V-Hawks put up some dominant performances. On March 14, they smoked conference opponent Indiana South Bend with a final score of 22-2. The squad followed this up the next day in a nonconference game versus Maranatha Baptist, putting up a final score of 16-4. More recently, Viterbo has had impressive wins against other conference opponents including a shutout 11-0 win versus Calumet and a “shootout” win against Olivet Nazarene with the final score being 21-16.
Individually, the V-Hawks have had record breaking seasons as well. Junior pitcher Brandon Jaenke showed his stellar talents by breaking the Viterbo University record for career strikeouts. In not even three full years, Jaenke managed to tally 239 strikeouts in 176 career innings, averaging 12 a game. The previous record was held by Kyle Gilbertson with 238, who played from 2018-2022. In addition to the broken record, the previous week Jaenke was named the CCAC pitcher of the week in the sixth week of the season. In seven innings, Janeke recorded nine strikeouts and only allowed four hits with two walks. This led to a K/9 ration of 11.57.
Aside from Jaenke, Viterbo has another pitcher honored with this award. California native Anthony Sanchez was selected in week eight of the season and put up a dominant performance against the Calumet Crimson Wave. In this game, Sancez recorded five strikeouts and two hits, which led to a shutout on the game.
The V-Hawks showed their skill in the culmination of the regular season against St. Franics. In both games, home runs were sent out of the park. In the first game, Cody Wells sent a three-run bomb, leading the team in RBIs. In the second game, Brett Stuessel sent a single run homerun over the wall to give Viterbo the early lead.
After a solid regular season, the V-Hawks look to dominate the conference tournament. With talented players at all positions, the team will be tough to beat. The CCAC conferment tournament begins on Wednesday, April 30, and continues until Saturday, May 3.
