Midwest Regional Website

NCAA Tournament Program (PDF)

Complete Tournament Notes

Lewis baseball travels to Ypsilanti, Mich. and the campus of Eastern Michigan University this week for the 2012 NCAA Division II Midwest Regional hosted by Wayne State (Mich.). Lewis is the No. 6 seed in the tournament and will open the event with No. 1 seed Indianapolis on Thursday (May 17) at 11 a.m. ET.  Visit the Lewis baseball Twitter feed (@LewisBaseball) and Facebook page (/LewisBaseball) during the tournament for updates.

ALL-GLVC SELECTIONS: The Flyers earned six 2012 All-GLVC East selections. The entire outfield of Andrew Brauer (Bolingbrook, Ill./Montini), Michael Bolling and Ben Albano (West Dundee, Ill./Jacobs) was named First Team. Starting pitcher Pat Lahey (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) and designated hitter Kyle Kapka (Mount Prospect, Ill./Prospect) earned Second Team honors. Starting pitcher/first baseman Michael Schroeder (Crown Point, Ind./North Newton) was named to the Second Team as a utility player.

THE YEAR WAS 1996: Hootie and the Blowfish won “Best New Artist” at the Grammy Awards. It was also the last time Lewis baseball qualified for the NCAA Tournament.

NO STRANGERS: While it has been 16 years since Lewis' last visit to the NCAA postseason, the Flyers are no strangers to playing in May. The 2012 bid is Lewis' 13th NCAA selection in school history. Lewis advanced to the NCAA Division II World Series in 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992 and 1994.

OVERALL WINS: Lewis enters the NCAA Tournament with 33 wins. The last time the Flyers reached 30 wins was 2000 when Lewis put together a 34-26 record.

GLVC WINS: Lewis' 21 GLVC wins this year match the most for a single season in program history. The Flyers had 21 in 1996 thanks to a 21-7 record.

YOU AGAIN?: The Flyers will play Indianapolis on Thursday for the third time in four games and the seventh time this season. Lewis is 2-4 against Indianapolis this year. In those six games, Kyle Kapka (Mount Prospect, Ill./Prospect) is hitting .438 (7-of-16) with five doubles. Tom Helwich (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln Way Central) has the two pitching victories in both games. He went 7.2 innings with five hits, two runs and six strikeouts  in a 3-2 win on April 6. Last Thursday, Helwich went all 9.0 innings, allowing five hits and two runs with nine strikeouts.

ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS: Lewis head coach Tim McDonough earned his 100th career head coaching victory on March 24 in game one against Missouri S&T. McDonough enters the GLVC Tournament with a career 122-129 record.

PAT MISSES BATS: This year, Pat Lahey (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) has the best single-season ERA of his career (2.50) and owns a 5-5 record. He has walked only five batters this season, with one being an intentional pass against Rockhurst last Friday in the GLVC Tournament

BETTER EARN IT: At the end of the regular season, Lewis had three pitchers in the top four in the GLVC in fewest walks. Pat Lahey (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) walked just three batters in the regular season, best in the nation and the GLVC. Matt Frahm (McLean, Ill./Olympia) ranked third in the conference with just eight walks and Michael Schroeder (Crown Point, Ind./North Newton) ranked fourth with just nine walks. As a team, Lewis walked just 99 batters in the 2012 regular season, the lowest total in the conference.

WE PLAY THE HITS: In conference games, Lewis led the GLVC in home runs (26) and total bases (485).

LONG GONE: 11 different Flyers have hit a home run this year.

GETTING IT STARTED: In conference games, senior leadoff man Mike Bolling (Chicago, Ill./Guerin Prep) led the GLVC in hits (53).

ALBANO POWER: At the end of the regular season, in all games, Ben Albano (West Dundee, Ill./Jacobs) led the GLVC in home runs (11), finished second in slugging (.687) and second in total bases (112).

ALBANO HONORED: Ben Albano (West Dundee, Ill./Jacobs)'s play was rewarded this year on April 23 with the D2BaseballNews.com National Player of the Week and GLVC Player of the Week honor.

CHICKS DIG THE LONG BALL: The duo of Ben Albano (West Dundee, Ill./Jacobs) (11) and Michael Schroeder (Crown Point, Ind./North Newton) (7) have combined for 18 home runs this year. That total is more home runs than 10 entire GLVC teams hit in 2012. Albano's 11 home runs on his own are more than five teams in the GLVC. Lewis hit a GLVC-high five home runs in the season opener against Findlay on March 4.

RUNNING AND RUNNING: Mike Bolling (Chicago, Ill./Guerin Prep) has 34 stolen bases in 2012. Last year he stole 31 bags. Bolling had a straight steal of home in Lewis' 4-3 game one victory over Missouri S&T on March 24.

AGAINST THE FIELD: Lewis' record this season against tournament teams: Indianapolis (2-4), Grand Valley State (1-0), Wayne State (0-0), Northern Kentucky (2-2) and Rockhurst (1-2).

TWO WAY PLAY: Junior Michael Schroeder (Crown Point, Ind./North Newton) is Lewis' starting first baseman and in the weekend pitching rotation. As a first baseman, he has hit .333 with 37 RBI and seven home runs. On the mound he is tied for the team lead in wins thanks to a 6-2 record. He has a 3.18 ERA in 51.0 innings with 28 strikeouts and nine walks.

WALK OFF A WINNER: Lewis has three walk-off victories in 2012.
     The first came on March 31 against Saint Joseph's when Ben Albano (West Dundee, Ill./Jacobs) hit a home run to left center field to give Lewis a 4-3 win in the eighth inning of the seven-inning contest.
     Lewis won 15-14 over Saint Xavier on April 12. The Flyers scored five runs in the ninth with a single by Mike Bolling (Chicago, Ill./Guerin Prep) scoring Michael Wido (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) for the game-winning run.
     On April 24 Drew Buddle (Bartlett, Ill./South Elgin) laced a double to right center field to score Zach Stetson (Kankakee, Ill./Herscher) for a 7-6 victory over St. Francis (Ill.).
     Lewis had a walk-off victory of a different sort on April 1 against Saint Joseph's. With one out in the seventh and the tying runner on third, Puma batter Jack Teah lifted a fly ball to right field. Derek Thomas (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Kennedy), who just entered the game as a defensive replacement, caught the ball and threw out Jake Roberts at home trying to tag up and score the tying run. The play ensured an 8-7 win for Lewis.

LAST NAMES PLEASE: The Lewis roster has five Flyers named Mike/Michael and three Flyers named Kyle. In game two against Indianapolis on April 7, two-thirds of Lewis' starting lineup was named Mike or Kyle as Kyle Huber (Chicago, Ill./Lane Tech), Kyle Thomas (Homer Glen, Ill./Providence Catholic), Kyle Kapka (Mount Prospect, Ill./Prospect), Mike Bolling (Chicago, Ill./Guerin Prep), Michael Wido (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) and Mike Barajas (Chicago, Ill./Nazareth) all started. Michael Schroeder (Crown Point, Ind./North Newton) threw an inning of relief too.

WHEN LEADING...: When leading after six innings this season the Flyers are 28-1.

THE PEN IS MIGHTIER: Drew Hicks (Pekin, Ill./Pekin) has allowed just one run in 10.2 innings over nine appearances since April 1. He is averaging nearly a strikeout per inning during that span thanks to nine strikeouts. Three of the nine outings turned in to successful saves.