Northern Athletics Conference 2013 Baseball Preview

Aurora University baseball is picked to finish 1st in the 2013 preseason coaches poll in the Northern Athletic Conference.  The Spartans won last years NAC conference title and the last three Northern Athletic Conference tournaments.

Returning for Aurora is D3Baseball.com's preseason All-American pitcher Drew Gay who went 8-0 with a 1.68 ERA last season.  Aurora also returns pitchers Eric Palmer 8-0, 2.54 ERA, Brad Warnecke 8-0, 1.19 ERA, DH Cory Walden .352  , 57 RBI's, and catcher Ryan McMahon, .322, 17 RBI's.

Concordia, IL returns All-American third baseman Anthony Even who hit .400 with 38 RBI's and 22 doubles last season.

Benedictine has NAC Freshman All-Star Tim Hendricks coming back.  Tim hit .269 with 23 RBI's and scored 20 runs last season for the Eagles.

Rockford's top returning pitcher is Kaleb Rich, who went 3-4 with a 4.82 ERA last year.

Dominican University only returns 10 letter winners from their 2012 squad right fielder Adam Quinn leads the way hitting .267 with 22 rbi's last season.

Nicolson and Ortiz earn Northern Athletics Conference Baseball Players of the Week

Jake Nicolson and Uli Ortiz were named the Northern Athletics Conference Baseball Players of the Week for the week ending April 29th.


Rockford College's Nicolson earned Pitching Baseball Student-Athlete of the Week by throwing a complete game shutout against Edgewood last week.  Jake struck out seven and walked one in a 4-0 win.  Nicolson is from Stillman Valley, Illinois.


Benedictine's Uli Ortiz received the NAC Position Player of the Week award for hitting .529 last week.  Uli had 9 hit's, one for extra bases, walked four times and drove in two runs.  Ortiz is from Chicago, Illinois.

Patriots Sign Nick DePaul

Play Ball USA Patriots Manager Mike Schultz is excited about the signing of Nick DePaul (Benedictine University) for the 2010 season.


DePaul made 7 starts for Benedictine as a freshman in 2009 and will be at the top of their rotation in 2010. His 3-2 record and 4.81 ERA earned him NAC All-Freshman honors. Prior to BU, Nick was an All-Conference player and Team Captain at Maine South High School in 2008.

Benedictine University - Baseball lends a helping hand for food pantry

Benedictine University - Baseball lends a helping hand for food pantry: "Baseball lends a helping hand for food pantry"

Benedictine University Illinois baseball’s veteran head coach John Ostrowski knows that is important that his players learn “life lessons” – as well as baseball – during their collegiate careers with the Eagles. That’s why when the opportunity arose to participate in a local food drive, he jumped at the chance to get his team involved.

“These young men are blessed with many great gifts athletically and with the chance to attend a great university,” said Ostrowski. “We want them to realize that giving back in some way – whether it’s by your time or talents – is very important to do as a responsible community member.”

Sunday (November 8), Ostrowski’s team participated in the Woodridge (Ill.) Community Pantry’s “Harvest Sunday.” The Eagles’ baseball team spent the day loading the over 8,000 pounds of food collected from the Pantry’s volunteers and donor organizations, destined to help those who are struggling to put food on their tables during the holiday season.

The Pantry serves more than 4,000 local residents per month and provides free breakfasts for 882 students in District 68 each school day throughout the year.