Chicago, Ill. - Fall practices are a distant memory. Pre-season practices, mostly inside the Keating Center, have wrapped up. The 2025 season for Illinois Tech Baseball begins today, when the team "hosts" Monmouth College for a double header today starting at 1:00pm at Wheaton College's Lee Pfund Stadium in Wheaton, Illinois.

The season was actually supposed to get underway on Saturday, March 1st, but Midwest weather being what it is, the Saturday double header, originally scheduled in Bloomington, Illinois, had to be canceled, and the Sunday double header was relocated to today's venue in Wheaton, which has a turf field.

Despite the one day delay to the start of the season, Head Coach Ed Ziefert is ready to get the 2025 campaign started.

"I think we're ready to play," said Ziefert. "I'm always going to tell you: I wish we would have done this here, I wish we have done more there, I wish we were more prepared here, but we focused on the things that I think we had to get done and the questions we had to answer. I thought our fall was fantastic. I think our winter so far has maybe been a little bit slower from that perspective, but we're ready to play and we're ready to find out what we are and and what we need to do as far as the conference is concerned."

As it is every year, the team has to adjust to the loss of seniors who graduated from the school and the program. The Scarlet Hawks lost some very significant players in pitcher Austin Richardson, pitcher/infielder/designated hitter Connor Blake, catcher David Cooper, outfielder Sam Sproule and infielder/outfielder Michael Lindenmuth. The loss comes in many forms: on offense, on defense, on the mound, and in leadership and experience.

But Ziefert feels the program is now in a better position to absorb those type of player losses, while having the team continue on it's trajectory as one of the top squads in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC). 

"Where we started 10 years ago to now is different in so, so many ways," Ziefert said. "This team is talented up and down the lineup. The talent is there. And when I talk about where the program is, have we developed that institutional concept that we belong, that we're winning, that we are a top two or three team in the NACC like we have been? I feel that that the talent is there. I think we're going to be better off the mound than we were a year ago. We have to answer some questions on how and where the runs are coming from, Over the last two years we've lost Connor Blake, we've lost Matt Jackson, we've lost Sam Sproule, we've lost Brandon Bennitt. So we've lost some guys, right? But are we doing the right things as a program to sustain success even if those established guys are not here? I think we're in a good spot to to establish that long term in our program."

Among the returners are slugging senior first-baseman Michael Paxson, all-around junior center fielder Tyler Gutsfeld and right-handed junior hurler Cameron Bracewell. All three players were all-conference and all-region selections last season. In total, the team returns 31 players from last season's squad. Nine freshmen make up the balance of the roster of 40 players.

While Ziefert feels it's too early to truly say what the strength of the team is before the first pitch is thrown, he did point out areas of the team that he feels should rise to the occasion. 

"Here's what I think we can do," said Ziefert. "I think we can pitch and I think we'll be pretty good there. Again, better than we were a year ago. I know we can run, so part of the answer to the question is how we're going to score runs. And step one to that is get on base. If we get on base, we feel that we are talented enough to create a little bit of havoc or to keep people on their toes. To do those things right, the key is really going to be getting on base."

Ziefert continued: "I think we're solid defensively. I love our center fielder. I love our shortstop. I love our catchers. And we're above average everywhere else. So I think we're going to be able to pick it up. I think we'll be able to keep games close and do those things. So for us, it's answering for ourselves, not necessarily for other people: How are we going to score runs and how locked in are we going to be to doing things fundamentally that we work on and preach everyday."

The Scarlet Hawks will take on the Monmouth College Scots in a non-conference double header this afternoon in Wheaton, with first pitch scheduled for 1pm.