From Case Western Reserve University Athletics
Junior left-handed relief pitcher Scott Kutschke (Morton Grove, Ill. / Notre Dame Prep), sophomore outfielder Jake Ryan (Chatham, Ill. / Glenwood), freshman left-handed starting pitcher Nick Denove (Naples, Fla. / Barron Collier) and senior third baseman Jacob Kucia (Strongsville, Ohio / St. Ignatius) each received All-Mideast Region honors from D3baseball.com, as announced by the website on Thursday afternoon.
Kutschke was named to the first team, while Ryan and Denove each earned second team honors, and Kucia secured a place on the third team. It was the first career all-region for each of the four players.
Kutschke, an All-UAA Second Team selection in 2019, ended the regular season with a 1.00 earned run average, the second-lowest among Division III pitcher entering the NCAA tournament. Through 13 appearances overall, he went 4-0 with four saves and a 2.15 ERA with 34 strikeouts in 37.2 innings of work in relief. Kutschke was named the relief pitcher on the D3baseball.com Team of the Week on March 5th.
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 honoree, was selected to the D3baseball.com Team of the Week and named the UAA Hitter of the Week on April 22nd.
Despite pitching in his first collegiate season, Denove ranked as one of the top pitchers in the region during the campaign. The All-UAA 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.
Kucia, an All-UAA First Team pick, 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.
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.