Lincoln, Neb.- Nebraska Wesleyan's Baseball team will begin its 2024 campaign this weekend with a three game series at Westminster College.
SERIES INFORMATION
- The series will be played at Battle High School, in Columbia, Missouri.
- The Prairie Wolves and Blue Jays have met 14 times. Westminster has won the last two games, including a thrilling 16-13 victory last season. Nebraska Wesleyan's last victory occurred on February 27th, 2022, in which the Prairie Wolves bested the Blue Jays 7-6. The first match up occurred on March 8th, 2015. Westminster won the game 9-3.
GAME TIMES, LIVE STREAM & LIVE STATS
- Saturday, February 17th, 2024: Saturday will see the Prairie Wolves and Blue Jays play a double header. Game one will begin at 1:00 p.m. Game two will begin at 4:00 p.m.
- Sunday, February 18th, 2024: Sunday will feature the Prairie Wolves and Blue Jays concluding the series with a game at 11:00 a.m.
SCOUTING THE PRAIRIE WOLVES
Nebraska Wesleyan enters 2024 looking to improve upon last season's 14-26 record. Nebraska Wesleyan's roster features a number of returning players, including infielder
Carter Betts. Last season, Betts started in 17 of 29 games and held a batting average of .329. He finished seventh on the team with 23 hits and had a slugging percentage of .400. Betts also hit 10 RBIs and was walked five times. As a team Nebraska Wesleyan had a batting average of .278, hit 22 home runs, had 201 RBIs and carried a slugging percentage of .403.
ERIC IGNATOWSKI PROFILE
Eric Ignatowski was hired as the 11th head coach in program history in November of 2022 and enters his second season as the skipper of Nebraska Wesleyan. In his first season, he directed the Prairie Wolves to a 14-26 record. Prior to taking over at Nebraska Wesleyan, Ignatowski spent 10 years as an assistant coach at Millikan University, where he helped the Big Blue win the CCIW Tournament Championship in 2021. Ignatowski also coached 25 athletes who were awarded All-Conference honors.
STRENGTH ON THE MOUND
Junior pitcher
Tyson Romero enters 2024 fresh of a big 2023 season that resulted in him earning second team All-Conference honors. Last year, Romero went 4-4 in 10 starts. He posted a 2.14 ERA and finished the season with 58 strikeouts.
NEBRASKA WESLEYAN BASEBALL TRADITION
Nebraska Wesleyan has won 23 conference championships with the most recent occurring in 2009. NWU's last tournament appearance occured in 1982. Since joining the American Rivers Conference, the Prairie Wolves best finish is third in 2022.
SCOUTING THE BLUE JAYS
Westminster enters this weekend with a 2-1 record. As a team, the Blue Jays have batted .292, with a .370 on base percentage and a .416 slugging percentage. Austin Mayton has posted a team high .556 batting average and has also recorded five hits and one RBI. Westminster is coached by Jake Jourdain who is in his second year.
