RICHMOND - The Earlham College Baseball team is set to begin its 2023 season with a weekend series against Olivet College beginning Friday, Feb. 24. The Quakers are looking to start off strong after accomplishing a conference championship last year and making it to the Lynchburg Regional in the NCAA tournament.
THE SCHEDULE
2023 Earlham Baseball schedule will see the majority of games taking place at Sadler Stadium. The Quakers have one non-conference road trip in Fort Pierce, FL. After Olivet, Earlham baseball will be hosting the Scarlet Hawks of Illinois Institute of Technology for a four-game series March 4-5. The Quakers will then host Wilmington College for the annual Quaker Bowl starting March 10, following with a double header March 11. The Quakers will host a game with Principa and Alma prior to HCAC conference games beginning. Earlham will begin Conference games with a 3-game set with Manchester University prior to having six away games at Anderson and Bluffton. The Quakers will return to Sadler stadium the weekend after to go up against Hanover College for a doubleheader. The Quakers will be away the next weekend at Mount St. Joseph with a non-conference mid-week game against Wabash sprinkled in the middle. The return to Sadler Stadium will be the following Sunday with a doubleheader against Rose-Hulman. They will finish off the season with a doubleheader at Sadler Stadium against Franklin May 6 and ending the season the following day with a doubleheader away at Transylvania.
THE PLAYERS
The Heartland Conference has listed five Quakers as "Athletes to Watch" ahead for the 2023 season.
Justin Dillhoff posted a 4-3 record and was the number one pitcher in the Quakers rotation as a sophomore. Dillhoff started 11 games, while having two complete games, pitching with an ERA of 5.03 and allowing a batting average of .292.
Easton Embry averaged a .306 for batting with seven doubles and four triples and two home runs as a junior. For the field Embry laid out 178 putouts and 11 assists for the 2022 season.
Max Fries averaged a .286 at bat with ten doubles, two triples and one home run, as well as 239 putouts for the 2022 season. Returning 2nd Team All HCAC member,
Christian Lancianese, averaged .301 at the plate, eight doubles, two triples, seven home runs, and 27 RBI's as a Junior. His brother and follow 2022 2nd Team All HCAC member,
Nathan Lancianese, had 17 doubles, two triples, and three home runs. Nathan had a batting average of .361 and had 30 RBI's for the 2022 season.
THE COACHES
Steve Sakosits will lead the Quakers in his 13th season as head baseball coach. Sakosits is the program's all-time winningest coach with 243 wins in 12 seasons while also helping Earlham College to 2 HCAC tournament championships and 2 NCAA tournament appearances.
Again joining Sakosits on the staff is Associate head baseball coach/hitting/Baserunning coach,
Mike Coduto (year 7), assistant hitting/baserunning/catching coach
Pat Morrow (year 3), Mental conditioning coach,
Stephen Johnson (year 13) and Assistant coach
Kevin McGee (year 7). Returning back to the Quakers is assistant coach
Brandon Pennington (year 10), while new additions are pitching coach
Blake Peterson (year 1), assistant pitching coach
Patrick Flanagan (year 1) and a couple of former Quaker alumni
Austin Hatfield 2021 grad and
Devin Basley 2022 grad. Hatfield will help with hitters/catchers and be the Quakers video analysis and breakdown coordinator and corner infielders while Basley will help with Infield play, hitting and will head Data analytics for the Quakers.
HCAC OUTLOOK
The Quakers were picked for first place in the preseason HCAC poll with 80 votes and eight first-place nods. Earlham last year was placed sixth in the preseason poll. The Quakers ended the 2022 season as Conference Champions.
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.
