By Gavin Greer
Purdue Fort Wayne’s baseball season begins this week, as the Mastodons travel to Montgomery, Alabama to face Alabama State.
Last season, their first in the Horizon League, the Mastodons finished with a total record of 18-36 and a 13-15 record in conference.
The Mastodon’s are led by Head Coach Doug Schreiber, who is in his 4th season with the team. Schreiber brings back his entire coaching staff for this season.
PFW looks to grow from last year as they bring back two star players, Cade Fitzpatrick and Rex Stills. Fitzpatrick is a senior catcher, who was a member of the second team All-Horizon League team last season. Stills is a sophomore pitcher, who was a member of the 2022 Freshman team All-Horizon. Jacob Meyer, a senior pitcher, also returns this season. Meyers was awarded pitcher of the week on April 12.
In 2022 the Mastodons had many achievements. The team had their most wins and their first tourney appearance since 2016. They won at least once game against every team in the Horizon League. The team hit 49 home runs, which was the 2nd most in PFW history. PFW pitchers threw for 369 strikeouts, this was the 3rd most in school history. The team also had a huge win over Michigan who was the 2022 B1G Champions.
After having a big win against Michigan last season, PFW will hope to do well in big matchups against IU, Michigan St., and 6th ranked Wake Forest.