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Baseball
   
Moving Forward in New Era
Starting another new era in Judson baseball, the 2008 season proved to be an exciting season after a slow start. The 2008 season was the first year for new head coach Rich Benjamin. This was Benjamin's first head coaching position after three years as an assistant coach at Olivet Nazarene University under NAIA great Elliot Johnson.
 
Judson started out 1-13 on the season before winning nine games in a row to improve to 10-13. From that point on, Judson turned the season around and finished with a 18-25 record and was 12-8 in the CCAC. The 12 wins tied the school record for CCAC wins in a season. Judson also went on to claim their first-ever CCAC Tournament Championship and receive the at-large bid to the NAIA Region VII Tournament.
 
The season also brought a number of firsts for the program, too. Judson won their first-ever CCAC Tournament and then played in the program's first-ever NAIA Region VII Tournament. Judson also knocked off two nationally ranked teams in #24 Dickinson State and #13 St. Francis. Judson came from behind to defeat #13 St. Francis, 6-5, to give USF their first CCAC loss. Another first came when Judson took a 6-5 win over St. Xavier which was the first time in program history that Judson had defeated the Cougars. Judson also played two NCAA Division I programs in the University of Illinois and Valparaiso University. Judson was the first opponent to play on Illinois' new turf field on March 24th.
 
In the CCAC, Judson swept three series against Olivet Nazarene, Illinois Tech, and Cardinal Stritch University. They also defeated regionally ranked teams in St. Francis, St. Xavier, and Purdue-North Central.
 
In the season, Judson faced four nationally ranked teams #21 Missouri Baptist, #24 Dickinson State, #14 Ohio Dominican, and #13 St. Francis. Judson defeated two of the four teams in Dickinson State and St. Francis.
 
Judson also broke several individual and team records in the 2008 season.
 
Benjamin Takes Over Progam
Taking over the Judson Eagles for the 2008 season as the new head coach is Rich Benjamin. Benjamin entered his first season as a head coach after three years as the assistant at Olivet Nazarene. At ONU, he produced one of the top pitching staffs in the CCAC and had several players named to the All-CCAC teams. He was a part of the 2005 CCAC regular season championship team and the 2007 CCAC tournament championship. ONU also went to the NAIA Region VII Tournament all three years he was a coach.
 
CCAC Tournament Champions
As the #3 seed in a four-team tournament, Judson went 3-1 to win their first-ever CCAC Tournament Championship. The CCAC Tournament faced the #3 through #6 teams in the CCAC for the right to go to the NAIA Region VII Tournament.
 
Judson won both of their games on day one with wins over Olivet Nazarene (6-2) and Purdue-North Central (9-7). Judson had to face Purdue-North Central again on day two after PNC defeated Olivet Nazarene. In the second meeting, PNC's offense unloaded on Judson for 20 runs as they won 20-7. This set up the third meeting of the tournament between Judson and PNC the following day.
 
On the third day of the tournament, Judson scored two runs in the bottom of the 10th inning to take a 12-11 win for the championship. Judson was up 9-4 before PNC scored six runs in the top of the ninth inning to take a 10-9 lead. Judson then tied the game at 10 in the bottom of the inning. PNC answered with one-run in the top of the 10th for an 11-10 lead before Judson rallied for the win.
 
NAIA Region VII Tournament
Competing at their first-ever NAIA Region VII Tournament, Judson received the #5 seed in the six team tournament. Judson fell in the first two games with losses to #2 St. Ambrose and #1 St. Francis. In the first game, Judson played six strong innings against St. Ambrose before the Fighting Bees put five on the board in the seventh inning to blow open the game to take the win, 9-3. Judson then faced #1 St. Francis in the elimination game and lost, 11-5. Judson came within two of USF, 7-5, after six innings, but allowed four more runs in the final three innings in the six-run loss.
 
#5 NAIA Region VII
For the first-time in the history of the program, Judson was given a regional ranking. In the final poll on May 5th, Judson was #5 in the NAIA Region VII poll.
 
Region VII Rankings
1. University of St. Francis (Ill.)
2. Saint Ambrose University (Iowa)
3. William Penn University (Iowa)
4. Saint Xavier University (Ill.)
5. Judson University (Ill.)
6. Iowa Wesleyan College
 
All-CCAC Awards
Judson had one player named to the All-CCAC Honorable Mention team in Kyle Koberus. Kobernus went 6-5 overall and 5-1 in the CCAC. He recorded 60 strikeouts on the season. He was second in the CCAC in strikeouts per game at 7.11 per game and seventh in total wins.
 
CCAC Freshman of the Year
First-year player Oscar DePablos picked up Judson's other CCAC award as he was tabbed the CCAC Freshman of the Year. He led Judson with a .418 batting average, .525 slugging percentage, and hits (59). He played in 42 games and started 41 of the total 43 games in the season. In the single season record book for Judson, he is fourth for hits, sixth for batting, fifth four triples, 12th for steals, and 14th in at-bats.
 
CCAC Player of the Week
Claiming the CCAC "Player of the Week" for April 15th was Brett Ehrlich. He batted .615 for four games and had two RBI and two doubles.
 
He hit safely in all four games against Robert Morris and Trinity International. Twice he produced multiple-hit games, including a 4-for-4 effort in a 14-2 win over Robert Morris College in the first game of a doubleheader on April 9.
 
Overall, he went 8-for-13 at the plate with two runs scored, one stolen base, and no walks.
 
NCCAA Region Coach of the Year
In his first year as the head coach, Rich Benjamin was tabbed as the NCCAA North Central Region "Coach of the Year." Judson was consistently in the NCCAA top 20 and in the top five in their region.
 
NCCAA Awards
Three players were given NCCAA North Central Region First-Team awards for their play. Kyle Kobernus, Brett Ehrlich, and Oscar DePablos all were on the first-team. DePablos was in the top 10 in several hitting categories in the North Central region and Kobernus was one of the top pitchers in the region.
 
NCCAA National Player of the Week
Zach Scipione was named the NCCAA National Player of the Week on April 8th. He batted over .500 in six games, had a .632 slugging percentage, and recorded nine RBI.
 
He had three hits vs. Indiana-Northwest and Illinois Tech and had four RBI in two games vs. IUN. Prior to the Cardinal Stritch series, he had an 11-game hitting streak.
 
In the 5-2 win over Cardinal Stritch, he singled in the go ahead run to make it 3-2 en route to the three-run win. He also spurred a come-from-behind win over Illinois Tech in the top the seventh inning. Down five runs, Judson scored six to win, 8-7. Scipione started the six-run inning as he brought in the first of the six runs with a single.
 
In the NCCAA
Judson had four players in the top 20 for NCCAA statistics. Oscar DePablos was fourth in triples per game and 11th in hitting. Brett Ehrlich was 20th in doubles per game while Kevin Fischer was fifth in stolen bases. Alci Gonzales, Kyle Kobernus, and Carlos Soto were all in the top 20 for strikeouts per game.
 
Depablos Breaks Single Game Hitting Record
Oscar DePablos, in his first season at Judson, set a new record for hits in a game with a 6-of-6 performance vs. #24 Dickinson State. It was Judson's first win of the season and first win over a ranked opponent. He had a double and five singles with two runs scored. The old record was five hits in a game that was held by Javier Alicea and Hank Faulkner.
 
Nine Straight Wins
From March 29th through April 7th, the 2008 season changed rapidly as Judson went on a nine-game winning streak to tie the program record for consecutive wins. The streak ties the record from the 2004 and 1971 seasons. After starting out 1-13, Judson won nine in a row for a 10-13 record that reshaped the season. Judson swept three CCAC series from Olivet Nazarene, Illinois Tech and Cardinal Stritch in the run.
 
Big Wins For the Program
Judson had several big wins in the 2008 season that will help change the way the program is heading. Judson knocked off two nationally ranked teams in #24 Dickinson State and #13 St. Francis for their first-ever wins over nationally ranked teams. Judson also picked up a program first by defeating St. Xavier, 6-5, on April 26th. With three wins in the CCAC Tournament, two over regionally ranked Purdue-North Central, Judson won their first-ever CCAC Tournament championship.
 
Tejada, Kobernus Finish in Judson Top 10
Kyle Kobernus and Rafael Tejada, Jr., both finished in the Judson top 10 for career stats. Kobernus finished first all-time in walks/innings pitched ratio at 0.23, fourth in strikeouts with 148, and eighth in wins with nine. Tejada is seventh all-time in doubles with 22. Both players were only at Judson for two years.