Last Season: 22-18 overall 16-6 in the Northern Athletics Conference
Key Players:
Derrick Pankow (Sr.) RHP: One of only three All-Conference honorees returning from a season ago in the entire conference, Pankow is one of the nation's premier strikeout pitchers. The senior finished 14th in the nation in total strikeouts with 90 and 33rd in K's per nine innings with 10.38. Pankow will look to improve on a 4.50 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP from a season ago as he is one of the top contenders for NAC Pitcher of the Year.
Austin Sarauer (Sr.) INF: Another one of the three returning All-Conference players in the conference from 2010, Sarauer will look to replicate his success at the plate last season. He led his team in hits, doubles, triples, RBI and home runs last season and his .559 slugging percentage was also good for tops on the Falcons. Errors forced Sarauer to a DH role for many games last season and he will have to improve on his .811 fielding percentage drastically if he hopes to stick at third base.
Ryan Schilter (So.) C: Schilter is one of the top catcher's in the nation both offensively and defensively and his freshmen year backed that claim up. He led the Falcons in batting average and helped to turn around a struggling pitching staff mid-season behind the plate.
Other Key Players: Matt Schilter (Sr.) 2B, Daniel Mueller (So.) SS, Matt Mayer (Sr.) UT and Dan Shea (Sr.)
Key Loss:
Jon Olla OF: Olla was a four year starter for Concordia in the outfield. His 2009 season earned him All-American Honors and included leading the nation in On Base Percentage.
Impact Freshmen:
Harry Steldt, INF/P, West Bend West
Greg Rhude, INF, Plymouth
Matt Scasny INF/P, Milwaukee Lutheran
Austin Baglow, P, Lutheran Westland (Michigan)
Outlook:
The Concordia University Wisconsin Falcons will look to get back to the Northern Athletics Conference Tournament for a second consecutive season.
"I asked the players and their goal is a conference championship along with a school record for wins," head coach Val Keiper stated in an email.
The goal is a strong possibility for the Falcons, who return almost every impact player from the team that finished just a game out of first place a season ago. The Falcons also are the only team to return multiple all-conference honorees in Derrick Pankow and Austin Sarauer.
Keiper believes that pitching and defense will be the keys to his team reaching their goal in 2011. The Falcons will need to improve drastically upon a team ERA of 7.37 to take some of the heat of the offense.
"I believe the keys to success for this team will be the ability to put the ball in the strike zone and then to field at a level near or better than what we did last year... The hitting should take care of itself," added Keiper.
Concordia gets things started Friday afternoon in Phoenix with a game against St. Mary's Mn.
Concordia gets things started Friday afternoon in Phoenix with a game against St. Mary's Mn.
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