From Case Western Reserve University Athletics
Four members of the Case Western Reserve University baseball team – senior third baseman Jacob Kucia, freshman pitcher Nick Denove, senior second baseman Rocco Maue and sophomore outfielder Jake Ryan – were each named to the American Baseball Coaches Association/ Rawlings All-Mideast Region Team. Kucia and Denove each earned a spot on the second team, while Maue and Ryan were both third team honorees.
Kucia, an All-UAA First Team pick and a D3baseball.com All-Region Third Team honoree, turned in a career campaign as a senior, finishing the year with a team-high .399 batting average and a home run. He started all 39 games at third base, while setting career-highs with 35 runs scored, 10 doubles, six triples, 27 RBIs and eight stolen bases. Kucia finished the year with a .503 on base percentage and added a .562 slugging percentage during the campaign.
Denove ranked as one of the top pitchers in the region during the campaign. The All-UAA and D3baseball.com All-Region Second Team honoree led all CWRU pitchers during the year with a 7-2 record and a 1.99 ERA through 11 appearances, all starts. Denove struck out 47 batters through 77 innings of work, while walking just 16 and holding opponents to a .202 batting average. Moreover, he threw five complete games during the year, including a pair of nine-inning shutouts against New York University and Brandeis, and picked up a complete-game victory over Otterbein during the NCAA Regionals. He was named the NCBWA Division III Rookie of the Week on April 10th, and was selected as the UAA Pitcher of the Week twice.
Maue, the lone repeat ABCA All-Region honoree among the group, started 38 games at second base and finished the year batting .354, the second-highest mark on the team. He led all Spartan players with 40 RBIs, 36 runs scored and 18 stolen bases (on 21 attempts), while also collecting seven doubles, four triples and six home runs. Maue was named to the All-UAA First Team, while claiming UAA Athlete of the Week honors on March 25th and a spot on the D3baseball.com Team of the Week on March 26th.
Ryan was one of the team's top hitters during the season, starting all 39 games and hitting .345 with a team-high nine home runs. He also added a team-high 15 doubles and totaled 27 extra base hits during the campaign, raising his slugging percentage to .631 for the campaign. He finished the year with 33 runs scored and 39 RBIs, while adding on three stolen bases. Ryan, an All-UAA First Team and D3baseball.com All-Region Second Team honoree, was selected to the D3baseball.com Team of the Week and named the UAA Hitter of the Week on April 22nd.
The Spartans finished the year with a 24-15 overall record, as the team recorded its 10th-straight winning season and made the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in program history.