RICHMOND – The Earlham College baseball team is set to begin its 2022 season with a weekend series against Olivet College beginning on Saturday, Feb. 26. The Quakers will be looking to back up their trip to the HCAC championship game from one year ago. 

THE SCHEDULE

The 40-game schedule will mostly be contested at Sadler Stadium, and the Quakers will only have one road trip in the non-conference schedule. After Olivet, Earlham will host Wilmington College for the Quaker Bowl on March 5-6. The Quakers will also host a doubleheader with Principia, and three-game sets against Hope, Oberlin and Adrian before HCAC games begin on April 2. Earlham begins the conference slate at Mount St. Joseph before returning to Sadler Stadium for Defiance the following Tuesday. After a road trip to Hanover, the Quakers will host four consecutive HCAC doubleheaders and conclude the season with away contests at Franklin and Manchester. 

THE PLAYERS

The Heartland Conference dubbed five Quakers as "Athletes to Watch" ahead of the season. Justin Dillhoff posted a 2-5 record as a starting pitcher with just over 37 innings pitched last season as a freshman. The Dayton, Ohio native allowed a batting average of .285 in his first season on the mound. Maxwell Fries hit for a .302 average in his sophomore season in 2021 with 86 at bats. He recorded 26 hits with seven doubles and three home runs for the season. Fries also knocked in 17 runs. Christian Lancianese returns for his junior year after batting .289 during the 2021 season. Lancianese tallied 24 hits with five doubles, two triples and one home run. Nathan Lancianese hit .303 in his sophomore season after recording 20 hits with four doubles and one home run. The sophomore brought home six runs while at the plate during the season. Cameron McCabe returns for his senior campaign after batting .292 with 31 hits, eight doubles, one triple and nine RBIs. McCabe also collected 32 put-outs and eight assists while in the field and had a fielding percentage of .889. 

THE COACHES

Steve Sakosits will lead the Quakers in his 12th season as head baseball coach. Sakosits is the all-time winningest coach in Quaker baseball history with 217 wins in 11 seasons. Mike Coduto, Kevin McGee and Beau Smith remain on the staff for their sixth season with the Quakers. 

HCAC OUTLOOK

The Quakers were picked to finish in sixth place in the preseason HCAC poll with 56 votes. Earlham finished just five votes behind Hanover in fifth place of the poll. The Quakers ended the regular season in 2021 in fifth place before making a run to the championship game in the HCAC tournament. 

HOW TO FOLLOW

goearlham.com will have up-to-the minute information on schedule cancellations and alterations all season long.  Additionally, links for live video and live stats will be published as they become available.