Team: Viterbo University V-Hawks
Conference: NSAA
College Level: NAIA
2021 Overall Record: 17-25
Location: La Crosse, WI

Head Coach: Brian Lewis (6th Season)

Assistant Coaches: Jon Grana (5th Season), Brady Banse (4th Season), Andy Palmer (2nd Season), Justin Maxted (1st Season)

Key Returning Position Players

  • Darrian Escobar-Winter (Falcon, CO)
  • Cole Benson (Hastings, MN)
  • Zach Braun (Hartford, WI)
  • Marcus Hornacek (Green Bay, WI)
  • Remy Stern (Fort Collins, CO)

Key Returning Pitchers

  • Kyle Gilbertson (La Crosse, WI)
  • Ben Strassman (Minneapolis, MN)
  • Alec Danen (Howard’s Grove, WI)
  • Dante Selke (St Charles, MN)
  • Jacob Pinc (St. Paul, MN)

Impact Freshman/Transfers

  • Kendal Hofer, INF (Washington, IL) – Transfer from Illinois Central College
  • Brandon Good, OF (Creswell, OR) – Transfer from Treasure Valley CC
  • Blake Warner, INF (Hastings, MN) – Transfer from Mesabi Range College
  • Cody Wells, UTL/RHP (Mountain Home, ID) – Transfer from Treasure Valley CC
  • Cooper Fry, C (Pocatello, ID) – Transfer from Treasure Valley CC
  • Anthony Sanchez, LHP (Fontana, CA) – Freshman from Kaiser HS
  • Brandon Jaenke, RHP (Fall Creek, WI) – Freshman from Fall Creek HS
  • Kyle Burns, RHP (Kearney, MO) – Freshman from Kearney HS
  • Eli White, C (Des Moines, IA) – Freshman from Dowling Catholic HS
  • Cale Beckman, RHP/UTL (Winona, MN) – Freshman from Cotter HS

What things did you see from the team in the fall?

We have a nice mix of established college players along with an influx of young players that will look to contribute throughout the spring season. We played one series in Illinois during the month of October going 4 and 0. Offensively we put up 50 runs in the four games while only surrendering 8 runs as a pitching staff. We had some high expectations for the offense coming into the fall and have been quite surprised with some of the young arms that have come in to complement the returning pitchers – we will have one of our deeper staffs in recent memory.

What was the focus during the fall for the team?

A tad cliche but just working to get better every day. Like a lot of programs, we’ve had some roster turnover due to graduation, but the new, incoming group of student-athletes have done a good job immersing themselves within the program. 

What are the expectations and goals for the team entering the season?

This year’s team needs to take that next big step forward. We return the vast majority of our pitching staff while adding some quality young arms into the mix, to make an exciting group. As well, we had one of our best offensive teams last year and look to add onto this year as well. Big expectations. As always, we need to continue to maintain our health throughout the spring – currently a little banged up but hopefully once the first games get going in early February, we will be in full stride.