The Event... The Northwestern College baseball team begins postseason play this morning as they take on Hastings in the first game of the 2008 GPAC Baseball Tournament. First pitch will be at 9:00 am and the game can be heard via the following link: listen live.
The eight-team, double-elimination event is being played at Duncan Field in Hastings, Neb. and will conclude Saturday, May 3. To view the official 2008 GPAC Tournament web-site, click on the following link: GPAC Tournament.
The Tournament Field... Eight teams comprise the tournament field, led by the top-seeded and regular season champion Red Raiders. Briar Cliff, Morningside, Midland Lutheran, Dakota Wesleyan, Nebraska Wesleyan, USF and Hastings are the other teams competing in the double-elimination tournament. As the top-seed, Northwestern receives an automatic bid to next week's region III tournament which will be played at Mayville State in Mayville, N.D. The postseason champion will earn the other automatic bid to the six-team regional tournament. The final berths are given out based on the final regional rankings which can be seen via the following link: regional ratings.
In 2007... Northwestern went 2-2 as the third seed at last year's tournament. The Red Raiders opened with a 5-4 win over Morningside and then lost to Mount Marty, 8-7, to fall to the elimination bracket. They then defeated Nebraska Wesleyan 6-5 before they were eliminated 4-2 by a the eventual tournament champions, USF.
Red Raider Notes... The Red Raiders won the GPAC regular season championship for the first time since 1980 with an 18-6 record. Coach Wede's squad is 25-14 overall. Northwestern comes into the postseason tournament with a team batting average of .310 and average 6.2 runs per game. Defensively, the Red Raiders give up 5.5 runs per game and hold a .940 fielding percentage. The pitching staff boasts an ERA of 4.75.
Juniors Jake Jansen and Grant Wall lead the high-powered offense with .409 and .400 averages, respectively. A two-time all-GPAC first baseman, Jansen is second on the team in both home runs (4) and RBIs (29). Wall, the 2007 GPAC Player-of-the-Year, leads the team with 13 doubles and is second on the team with 35 runs scored. He is also a perfect 11-for-11 in stolen bases. Senior Joe Heitritter is batting .375 with a team-best 36 runs scored. A second team all-GPAC pick in 2007, Heitritter is 8-for-8 in stolen bases. Brad Payne (.354), Codie Zeutenhorst (.336), Justin Boersma (.308) and Austin Malone (.304) are also among the team's offensive leaders. Zeutenhorst, a three-time all-GPAC catcher, leads NWC with five home runs and 31 RBIs.
The pitching staff is anchored by senior righthander Mihai Burlea who is 7-3 with a 3.53 ERA this season. The 2007 GPAC and Region Pitcher-of-the-Year has 60 strikeouts in 63 2/3 innings pitched. Freshman Mike Zoellner is 4-1 this season with a 3.38 ERA. He has recorded 45 strikeouts in 42 2/3 innings pitched. Joe Grady (5-3, 3.76) and Trevor Kuiper (5-2, 4.69) are also in the starting rotation for Coach Wede's staff.
Up Next... The GPAC Tournament will conclude Saturday night and after that the Red Raiders will head to Mayville, N.D. for the Region III Tournament which will begin May 7.
2008 Media Guide
