Millikin Baseball Earns Two Seed in CCIW Tournament

The Millikin University baseball team will be the two seed in the upcoming College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Baseball Tournament being played May 11-14 at North Central College in Naperville.

The Big Blue will face the five seed Carroll University in its opening game on Wednesday, May 11 at 3 p.m.

Millikin finished the season 26-14 overall and 11-7 in CCIW play. The Big Blue won the tiebreaker for the number two seed over Wheaton College (18-18) and Augustana College (29-10) who both finished 11-7 in conference play as well. Carroll (18-21) is the five seed with a 9-9 record. North Central (30-10) is the number one seed with a 14-4 conference record. The Cardinals will open the tournament against the sixth seed North Park University (14-23, 7-11).

CCIW Tournament Web Site

Millikin Game Notes

The Big Blue are making its second straight CCIW Tournament appearance after winning last year's tournament and advancing to host a NCAA Division III Regional Round.

Millikin's 26 wins is the second most in school history behind latest year's record setting 31 win. Prior to 2021, the Big Blue record of wins was 25-15 in 2003.

Millikin has been a team of streaks this season. After starting 0-2, the Big Blue had a 10 game winning streak. Later in the season Millikin had a six game losing streak followed by winning seven games in-a-row. The Big Blue have currently won three straight.

Former high school teammates Garrett Fritz and Tanner Coleman has been a major part of the Big Blue success this season. The pair are from the small town of Findlay, Illinois and played together at Okaw Valley High School. Both started their careers elsewhere before transferring to Millikin prior to the 2021 season. Fritz played at Rend Lake College before transferring to Millikin and Coleman started his career at MacMurray College. Fritz is Millikin's starting catcher and leading hitter with a .336 average. He leads the team in home runs with five and RBI with 38. Coleman as been a force at the plate and on the mound. He is hitting .324 with 26 RBI. He is 5-4 with one save and a 3.86 ERA. Coleman has earned CCIW Pitcher of the Week honors two times in 2022.

Senior Caleb Buehrle leads Millikin in wins with an 8-4 record with one save and a 3.79 ERA. Buehrle has been named the CCIW Pitcher of the Week twice this season.

Head Coach Brandon Townsend is in his ninth season leading the Big Blue. He was a career record at Millikin of 166-171. Millikin is 84-55 in the last four seasons including a shortened 2020 season. The Big Blue are 57-30 in the last two seasons.

Townsend's teams play a fundamental style of baseball. The Big Blue have 383 hits on the season and have drawn 188 walks. Millikin has 49 sacrifices and 29 sacrifice flies. The Big Blue are 91-99 in stolen bases. Two players are perfect on the season in stolen bases with Tyler Gade going 17-17 and Frank Bryan going 11-11.

Centerfielder Keagan Brady was named the CCIW Student-Athlete of the Week for hitters on May 10. For the week, Brady hit .375 with two home runs and eight RBI. He had a .813 slugging percentage.

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Players Mentioned

#28 Frank Bryan: OF; 6' 1"; Senior; R/R

#45 Caleb Buehrle: RHP; 6' 3"; Senior; R/R

#9 Tanner Coleman: P/3B; 6' 3"; Junior; R/R

#17 Garrett Fritz: C; 5' 11"; Junior; R/R

#8 Keagan Brady: OF; 5' 9"; Junior; R/R

#21 Tyler Gade: OF; 5' 10"; Freshman; L/R

Players Mentioned

#28 Frank Bryan
: 6' 1"; Senior; R/R
: OF

#45 Caleb Buehrle
: 6' 3"; Senior; R/R
: RHP

#9 Tanner Coleman
: 6' 3"; Junior; R/R
: P/3B

#17 Garrett Fritz
: 5' 11"; Junior; R/R
: C

#8 Keagan Brady
: 5' 9"; Junior; R/R
: OF

#21 Tyler Gade
: 5' 10"; Freshman; L/R
: OF