FREELAND, Mich. – The Trine University baseball team was selected by the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) coaches to finish seventh in the league in the 2022 season.
Adrian College was slated to finish first overall in tallying the most total votes and all possible first-place votes with 49 and seven. Hope College received the remaining first-place vote to place second with 43 points.
Entering his 20th season at the helm of the program, head coach Greg Perschke is looking to build upon a 6-28 year in 2021, with a 6-17 conference record.
The trio of Brenden Warner [Richland, Mich. / Hackett Catholic Prep], Adam Stefanelli [Westerville, Ohio / Westerville North] and Cory Erbskorn [Archbold, Ohio / Archbold] appeared in more than 20 games one season ago and batted .300 or above.
Senior outfielder Warner is a senior that batted .324 with a team-high 19 walks and .458 on-base percentage. Steffanelli, a junior infielder, batted .312 while swiping a team-high five bases one season ago. Erbskorn returns to the middle of the Thunder lineup after bringing a ton of pop in his bat last season. The junior outfielder hit .300 with 14 extra base hits, including three triples and four homeruns.
On the pitching side, Trine brings back three key right-handers: Josh Hoogewerf [Crown Point, Ind. / Crown Point], Austin Nuessgen [Beavercreek, Ohio / Beavercreek] and Bryce Bloode [New Carlisle, Ind. / New Prairie].
Hoogewerf is the leading return man in innings with 37.1 in nine appearances. The sophomore held a record of 1-3 on the bump one season ago. Nuessgen is a key piece out of the bullpen and struck out 10 in 11.0 innings of work (8.18 K/9). He also held a 2.5 K/BB rate in his time on the mound in 2021. Bloode made three starts in nine appearances last season and tallied 13.0 innings.
Trine opens their 2022 season with a four-game series at Asbury University on February 26-27.