WAUKESHA, Wis. - Following a highly successful regular season, the Carroll University baseball team enters the postseason with plans of making a lasting impact and building on its growing reputation as one of the top-tier programs in the nationally recognized College Conference of Illinois-Wisconsin.

The No. 4-seeded Pioneers are scheduled to face No. 5-seeded North Park University in the opening round of the CCIW Baseball Tournament at host site North Central College's Zimmerman Stadium in Naperville, Ill. on Wednesday, May 19 at 1 PM. 

Carroll won the regular-season series with North Park 3-1 this season (including victories of 6-0, 9-3 and 6-4).

The Pioneers finished the challenging regular season with a 14-18 conference record and 20-20 overall, finishing in sole possession of fourth place in the league standings en route to recording their highest winning percentage in the CCIW since 1988.

It was the first time the Pioneers have reached the 20-victory plateau since 2018 (highlighted by a season-opening victory to christen the team's newly renovated state-of-the-art field at Frame Park along with statement-making victories over nationally-ranked CCIW regular-season champion North Central, Augustana and fierce league rival Illinois Wesleyan).

Carroll finished the regular season leading the nine-team CCIW in home runs (40), doubles (86) and slugging percentage (.450).

"We are excited about where we are currently and feel we have the ability to make a run in the post-season," said Carroll head coach Stein Rear, who surpassed the memorable 100-victory milestone in guiding the Pioneers earlier this season. "The regular season was a learning process.  Right now we are playing well defensively and our pitching staff and bullpen have done a good job of limiting the oppenents offense. Offensively, we have done some good things and have good depth from top to bottom in our line-up.  

"North Park is a good team with an all-conference level No. 1 starter who will present a challenge for us in the opening game.  We've managed to win both games he's started against us, but it was a grind and we had to work to manufacture runs against him.  Curtis Sheahan will take the mound for us. He has had a very good year to this point so we expect him to give us a solid outing on the mound.  I expect a close, low-scoring game."

"Looking at the tournament as a whole, I like our depth from a pitching staff standpoint," Rear added. "We've had six different players start games for us at one point this year and have good depth in our bullpen.  That depth will serve us well as we progress further into the tournament.  There are no easy games in the CCIW and every game will be a challenge.  This tournament is another opportunity for us to grow as a program and to continue to move the needle in the right direction."

The Pioneers are led by a strong core of 10 seniors including: TJ Pfaffle, Curtis Sheahan, Dylan Callahan, Tyler Love, Brad Vosters, Danny Glampe, Mitchell Massino, Seth Smith, Alec Honickel and Dawson Kiphart.

Carroll last faced North Park in the regular-season finale at Frame Park on May 12th, defeating the Vikings 6-4 to clinch its 20th victory of the season.
Callahan went 3-for-4 with three doubles and four RBIs for the Pioneers, who finished with six hits in the contest.
Carroll scored four runs on three hits to quickly overcome an early 1-0 deficit in the momentum-building bottom of the first inning, ignited on a two-run double to left center by Callahan and followed by a two-run home run to left field by Massino.
The Pioneers' final runs came in the second on a two-out two-run double to right-center field by Callahan.
Drew McDermid was the winning pitcher, allowing three runs on seven hits with one strikeout and no walks through five complete innings. The Pioneers utilized six pitchers in the contest with Nick Evert, Jake Nitch, Josh Streu, Kiphart and Josh Nitch combining to yield one run on four hits with four strikeouts and three walks over the course of the final four innings.

Pfaffle finished the regular season second in conference with a team-leading .378 batting average and was fifth in league with hits (56). Massino and junior Benton Holly are tied for second in the CCIW with a team-leading nine home runs.

Callahan established a program record for career home runs earlier this season and set a single-season program record for doubles (including three doubles in the regular-season finale versus North Park to become the first player to accomplish the single-game feat since 2017).

Sheahan, a senior left-hander, has led the pitching rotation with four conference victories, was seventh in the CCIW in earned run average (3.02) and ninth in strikeouts with a single-season program-record (61). Jake Nitch completed the regular season tied for the league lead in saves (9).

Stay up to date on Carroll baseball by going online to www.gopios.com, or by following the Pioneers on Facebook (Carroll University Athletics), Twitter (@pio_athletics), and Instagram (@pio_athletics)

PIONEER FAST FACTS
What: Carroll University baseball team
Up Next: The No. 4-seeded Pioneers are scheduled to face No. 5-seeded North Park University in the first round of the CCIW Tournament at North Central College's Zimmerman Stadium in Naperville, Ill. on Wednesday, May 19th at 1 p.m.
Record: Finished the regular season 14-18 in conference and 20-20 overall
Head Coach: Stein Rear
Assistant Coaches: Justin Scoville, Kevin Dineen, Tyler Peccioli, Preston Saal, Jake Yellovich and Cooper Burns
Team Members: Seniors: TJ Pfaffle, Curtis Sheahan, Dylan Callahan, Tyler Love, Brad Vosters, Danny Glampe, Mitchell Massino, Seth Smith, Alec Honickel and Dawson Kiphart; Juniors: Josh Nitch, Matt Pestel, Jake Nitch, Griffin Klein, Michael Costanzo, Trevor Benz, Benton Holly, Josh Kolb, Drew McDermid, Clay Schult, Justin Baker, Zach Tuss, Alan Spurley and Andrew Stekiel; Sophomores: Eli Syverson, Cole Haugh, Scotty Starovich, Ben Ellifson, Bryce Spaulding, Nick Evert, Casey Mir, Luke Blaha, Connor Kelly, Josh Streu and Nick Angus; Freshmen: Brandon Kunz, Azuel Cintron, Thomas Ward, Brett Buzzelli, Jexel Valentin, Connor Nolen, Adam Leonard, Daniel Kalinowski, Kevin Farbisz, David Kang, Max Diaz, Mason Hege, Payton Neuman, Jorge Rodriguez, Nolan Fehrman, Bennet Becker, Aidan Theile, Tony Catalano and Billy Caruso