USF baseball eyes redemption behind veteran core

After another long and cold winter in Joliet, Illinois, the University of St. Francis (USF) Baseball team is finally ready to get back on the field. After falling just short of postseason play last year, despite having a winning conference record, assistant coach Luke Ketchum feels that the experience that this year’s team has will be a difference maker.

“We’re kind of just building off the years past. We have a lot of guys on our team that were in both of our opening round series and seasons past,” Ketchum said. “They kind of got a bitter taste in their mouths from last year, so just looking forward to building off of that.”

Experience is something that this team has no shortage of. There are 41 players that are currently rostered, 22 of them are seniors or older, with a handful of them playing a role in their Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) tournament win just two years ago. Depth is another strength this team has, especially with playing four to six games a week on average, as highlighted by assistant coach John McGuire.

“I always tell the guys, you know, it takes a village,” McGuire said. “Wether [the depth is] on the mound or off the bench, that stuff is so invaluable.”

The team will open their CCAC schedule at home against Calumet College of St. Joseph on March 6 after 13 non-conference games, 11 of which will take place in Tennessee. Eight of those games will be played against teams who eclipsed the 30 win mark last season, including four against Cumberland University who won two games at the last NAIA tournament. 

Headlining the returners this season is catcher Jake Merda, who was a member of the CCAC All-Conference First Team last season while collecting 50 hits and an on-base percentage north of .400. While his on the field play speaks for itself, coach McGuire acknowledged Merda’s leadership off the field and how valuable it is to the team.

“He’s been the man the last couple of years,” McGuire said. “He’s really grown into his own. I’m very proud of the work he’s put in. Now he’s a senior and he’s firing on all cylinders. He’s kind of taking that leadership role.”

Another player that both coach McGuire and coach Ketchum talked about is senior utility player Max Montgomery. A member of the 2025 CCAC Gold Glove team, Montgomery was top three on the team in statistics such as runs batted in, walks and runs scored while playing multiple positions for the team. 

With much of the offense returning, the pitching staff retains many of their top performers from last season as well. Jacob Jurka returns after being the team's top starter during conference play last season. The bullpen has many key pieces returning, including closer Zac Blazekovich, who opponents hit .236 against last season, and just .200 in conference play. Christopher Villowock, who posted a 1.67 earned run average in 27 innings last season, which led the team, will also be returning as a member of the night shift. 

While many people think of baseball being full of long home runs and flamethrowing strikeouts, USF baseball’s identity is quite the opposite. Head coach Brian Michalak’s team has adopted a philosophy of small ball which combines contact and speed to generate runs as opposed to beating teams with raw power. Using only one word to describe the team, coach Ketchum used “grit”. 

“I think we’re going to be one of those teams that [grinds]. Coach [Michalak] always says another 90 feet,” Ketchum said. “We’re going to have to [play] single, single, single, score, then run, you know. Steal bases every other inning, kind of tick you off one through nine in the lineup and score that way.” 

Being former players themselves, coach McGuire and coach Ketchum have seen the steps that many of the players have taken up to this point in their careers. Coach McGuire, who’s younger brother Quinn is a pitcher on the team, expressed how proud he is to see this. 

“We used to play a couple of years ago and all these guys that are now seniors were freshmen. The box score doesn’t show that stuff,” McGuire said. “You can look back through the years, but that doesn’t tell the whole story about how far these guys have come and the steps that they’ve taken forward.”

The end goal for this team is the same as everyone else’s in the country. Win conference, win the tournament, and win a national championship. The potential of this team though? Coach McGuire put it best.

“The sky is the limit for the team this year.”

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