NCCAA World Series l NCCAA Regional Champions

Roster l Schedule l Stats

2011 Baseball Year in Review (pdf)

2011 RECAP: It was another successful season for the Judson University baseball team as they broke 12 team records, won a program best 42 games, and landed just outside of the NAIA top 25 in March. Head coach Rich Benjamin picked up his 100th collegiate win and moved into the top spot for most wins as a coach at Judson.

The season started off with a 4-4 record as Judson made a trip to Louisiana to play Loyola University on February 5th. This is the earliest that any baseball team at Judson has ever started and they took all four games from Loyola. After a four-game losing streak to Harris-Stowe, Judson reeled off a 15-game winning streak that broke the program record of nine set in 2010. That put their record at 19-4 and they received 86 votes in the NAIA National Poll which was 28th in the nation. That is the highest rating. ever, for Judson.

Judson then continued to push as one of the top teams in the CCAC and finished at 21-8 and was the #3 seed in the CCAC Tournament. Judson went 2-2 in the CCAC Tournament and broke the program record for wins with their 40th win against St. Francis, 10-3.

In the NCCAA regional tournament, Judson won their second straight straight championship over Olivet Nazarene by taking the first two games of the three-game series and extending their win total to 42. They were then seeded #2 in the NCCAA World Series.

Overall, Judson had one of their finest years with 42 wins, a 15-game winning streak, and five All-CCAC and NCCAA All-American selections.

NAIA NATIONAL POLL: Judson University moved up in the NAIA National Poll in 2011 as they came just 29 votes from breaking the top 25. Judson received 12 votes in the preseason poll and then had 86 votes in the first poll of the year on March 29th. The next time they were in the poll came on May 3rd with one vote. In the final poll on May 8th, they had six votes to put them in four NAIA National Polls which tops 2010 where they were mentioned three times. In 2010, it was the first time that Judson had broken into the NAIA National Poll receiving votes.

NCCAA WORLD SERIES l NCCAA REGIONAL CHAMPIONS: Advancing to the program’s fourth NCCAA World Series, Judson won their second straight NCCAA North Central Regional Championship. Judson swept Olivet Nazarene, 3-1, and 6-4 in a three-game series to move onto the World Series. Judson received a #2 seed with their 42 wins. With their sweep over Olivet Nazarene, Judson went 4-1 on the year vs. the Tigers. The #2 seed is the highest any team from Judson has been seeded at the World Series.

SINGLE SEASON TEAM RECORDS: The 2011 season brought 12 team records broken which capped the 10 records broke in 2010. Judson broke five offensive records, three defensinve records, and four team records. The team records broken were wins (42), winning percentage (.667), consecutive wins (15), and tied for CCAC wins (21). They broke five offensive records in runs (433), doubles (129), home runs (45), walks (271), and stolen bases (77). Defensively, they broke records for strikeouts (340), innings pitched (440.2), and fielding percentage (.960).

SEVEN INDIVIDUAL SINGLE SEASON RECORDS BROKEN: Four players had the pleasure of breaking seven single season records in 2011. Nate Rohl broke four individual season records to lead the team. He finished with 73 hits surpassing Bret Ehrlich’s record of 72 set in 2009 and then broke teammate Andy Parsill’s record of 49 RBI from last year with 59 RBI. Rohl then hit 12 home runs to move past Adam’ Schwelnus’ eight home runs hit in 2004. The final record broken by Rohl came with teammate’s Brian Brauer and Johnny Amman as they all hit 19 doubles to break Ryan Koerner’s record of 18 from 2002. Brauer then broke three records including the doubles record. He set a new record for runs scored with 64 moving by Kevin Fischer’s 47 set in 2009. His third record was at-bats with 229 breaking teammate Johnny Amann’s record of 185 set in 2010. Amann was then a part of the doubles record set with Rohl and Brauer. Nick Krisman finished out the single season records with nine wins to break his own record of eight that was set in 2010. In single game records, Joe Young tied the record for most steals in a game with five vs. Roosevelt on March 21st. That record was set in 1973 by Woody Smith.

BENJAMIN IMPACT: Rich Benjamin completed his fourth season in 2011 at Judson and continues to build up the program. He won his 100th collegiate game on March 13th vs. Roosevelt University, 13-4. He then became the all-time wins leader with 129 wins in four years surpassing Loren Torres record of 107 set in five years. Judson has broke the wins record the past three years and had 21 wins in the CCAC the past two years. This year, too, he produced five NCCAA All-Americans and All-CCAC selections. His teams have also broke nine or more team records in the past three years. In the past two years, his teams have started to be recognized nationally as they are receiving votes in the NAIA.

CAREER RECORD BOOK: Judson had 12 players move up or add their name to the career reocrds book. Matt McHenry led the way as he broke two career records for RBI and runs scored. He now has 100 RBI that moved him past Adam Schwelnus’ 99 RBI set from 2002 to 2005. McHenry also has 112 runs scored moving him by Manny Bobadilla’s 91 set from 2005-07 and 2009. Mitch Smith also broke a pitching record for walks/innings pitched at 0.20. There are also four records that will have a chance to be broken in 2012. McHenry needs five hits and 14 at-bats to become the all-time leader in those two categories. Johnny Amman needs two triples and six home runs to break those two career records.

Below is where the players stand in the career record book:

Matt McHenry

RBI - 1st (100); Runs Scored - 1st (112); Doubles - 2nd (38); At-Bats - 2nd (512); Hits - 2nd (162); Triples - 5th (8); Home Runs - 6th (12)

Nate Rohl

Home Runs - 2nd (18);Batting Average - 3rd (.395); RBI - 3rd (135); Doubles - 3rd (35); Runs Scored - 5th (88); Hits - 5th (135);

Walks - 6th (52)

Brian Brauer

Runs Scored - 2nd (102); triples - 5th (8); stolen bases - 5th (30); RBI - 6th (82); Hits - 7th (130); At-Bats - 8th (397); Doubles - 9th (27)

Johnny Amann

Runs Scored - 3rd (99); Triples - 3rd (9); Home Runs - 4th (14); Doubles - 5th (31); RBI - 7th (79); At-Bats - 10th (347); Hits - 10th (116); Batting Average - 12th (.334)

Andy Parsill

Home Runs - 7th (10); Triples - 14th (3); Doubles - 20th (18)

Nick Krisman

Winning Percentage - 2nd (.680); Wins - 3rd (17); Walks/IP - 4th (0.24); Innings Pitched - 7th (157.2); Strikeouts - 8th (114); ERA - 10th (4.05)

Mitch Smith

Walks/IP - 1st (0.20); Wins - 7th (12); Winning Percentage - 9th (.571)

Levi Pippenger

Walks - 10th (50); Triples - 14th (3); Doubles - 15th (21); Hits - 20th (97)

Kevin Carmody

Winning Pecentage -3rd (.800)

Tyler Ware

Fewest Walks Allowed - 10th (14/66 IP)

Ben Palmer

Winning Percentage - 10th (.545)

WINNING STREAK l SPRING BREAK TRIP: After starting off 4-4, Judson went to Florida and ripped through eight straight wins to start their record setting 15-game winning streak. Seven more wins came after Florida which broke the single season record for consecutive wins at 15. In Florida, Judson defeated St. Thomas (Fla.), Aquinas (Mich.), Marian (Ind.), and Bethel (Tenn.) and then broke the record vs. Wheaton College, 10-7, on March 17th. The 15th straight win came vs. Illinois Tech on March 26th as Judson swept the CCAC series. The streak came to an end on March 28th as they split with Purdue-North Central falling in game one, 5-2. Judson also put together an eight-game winning streak later in the season, too.

CCAC AWARDS: Five players were honored with CCAC awards in 2011 with four players being named to the first team. Nate Rohl, Brian Brauer, Johnny Amann, and T.J. Swank all were named to the first-team. The four players on the first team were the most by any CCAC team. Nick Krisman was then named to the second team. Brauer was voted onto the CCAC Gold Glove team for his field play. Rohl also won two CCAC Player of the Week awards while Tyler Ware received one pitcher of the week award.

NCCAA AWARDS: Judson had a banner year in the NCCAA as five players were named NCCAA All-American. That is the most for any baseball team at Judson. Nate Rohl, Nick Krisman, Johnny Amann, and T.J. Swank were all first-team members while Brian Brauer was on the second team. All five were also named NCCAA All-Region first-team along with Tyler Ware. Ware and Ben Palmer earned NCCAA National Player of the Week, too.

ACADEMIC AWARDS: Four players earned NCCAA scholar-athlete awards and CCAC All-Academic awards. Gaining NCCAA scholar-athlete awards were Nick Krisman, T.J. Swank, Steve Janezic, and Andy Parsill. Earning CCAC All-Academic awards were Krisman, Janezic, Parsill, and Joe Huenecke.

CCAC STATS: Judson had 11 players in the CCAC top 10 for statistics. Nate Rohl led the team as he was in 10 categories and led the CCAC in home runs (12) and RBI (59). Below is the list of players in the CCAC:

Nate Rohl - Home Runs - 1st (12); RBI - 1st (59); Hits - 2nd (73); Total Bases - 2nd (128); Doubles - 2nd (19); Slugging % - 2nd (.703); On-Base % - 3rd (.502); Individual Batting - 4th (.401); Walks - 6th (29); Runs Scored - 7th (47)

Brian Brauer - Runs Scored - 2nd (64); Doubles - 2nd (19); Hits - 4th (72); Total Bases - 4th (106); Stolen Bases - 6th (20)

Johnny Amann - Doubles - 2nd (19); Slugging Percentage - 3rd (.648); Runs Scored - 4th (53); Home Runs - 4th (8); On-Base % - 4th (.476); Total Bases - 5th (105)

T.J. Swank - Walks - 2nd (32); Saves - 2nd (6); Home Runs - 6th (6)

Nick Krisman - Wins - 2nd (9); Complete Games - 4th (6); Strike Outs - 5th (64); Games Started - 6th (12); Innings Pitched - 7th (71.2)

Matt McHenry - Doubles - 5th (17); Home Runs - 6th (6)

Ben Palmer - Strikeouts - 5th (64)

Levi Pippenger - Walks - 6th (29)

Billy Wright - Walks - 10th (26)

Kevin Carmody - Appearances - 6th (17)

Tyler Ware - Complete Games - 4th (6)

NAIA STATS: In the NAIA top 25, Judson had four players reach five different categories. Brian Brauer was 17th in runs scored (64) and at-bats (229) and 21st in doubles (19). Nate Rohl was 21st in doubles (19), 25th in slugging % (.703), and 28th in home runs (12). Johnny Amann was 21st in doubles (19) while Nick Krisman was 24th in wins (9).