The Case Western Reserve University baseball team completed one of the most successful seasons in program history in 2025, reaching the Super Regional round of the NCAA Division III Championship for the first time and winning its third University Athletic Association Championship in the last four years.
The Spartans finished the 2025 season with a 30-14-1 overall record, marking the second consecutive season and the fourth time overall in program history that the team has won 30 or more games in a campaign. CWRU went 14-5-1 in UAA play to win the conference title, which for the first time in UAA history included an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship field.
The Spartans hosted the NCAA Regional at Nobby's Ballpark in Cleveland for the second-straight season, and, for the first time in program history, CWRU would win the regional to advance in the tournament. CWRU opened its postseason with a 19-9 win over North Central and then followed that with a wild 14-13 triumph over Arcadia in the winner bracket game. The Spartans trailed 8-2 heading into the bottom of the fifth of the contest, but rallied to tie the game with six runs in the fifth. The teams continued to battle back and forth, and Arcadia led 13-12 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth with the bases empty. However, a base hit, a walk, and a hit-batter loaded the bases, and junior outfielder Matt Trout was hit by a pitch to force across the game-tying run. With the next batter at the plate, graduate student Franco Alonso was able to steal home after an unsuccessful pickoff led to a rundown, scoring the game-winning run and moving the Spartans to the regional championship game.
The Spartans found themselves behind again the next day against 16th-ranked Centre, but would once again rally for a win. CWRU trailed 5-0 heading into the bottom of the third and 7-2 after the top of the fifth. However, the Spartans scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth to cut the Colonels' lead to a pair of runs, and after Centre added a run in the seventh to make it an 8-5 lead, CWRU put up a six-run inning for the second day in a row in the bottom of the frame, including a game-tying sacrifice fly from graduate student infielder Zack Carinci and a two-out, two-RBI single from graduate student catcher Jack Anderson that gave CWRU the lead. Carinci added an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth to put CWRU ahead by four, and the Spartans held on for a 12-9 victory to advance to the Super Regional.
Senior outfielder Nick Harms was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament, while Anderson, Alonso, sophomore shortstop Nate Arterburn, and first-year pitcher Ayush Shetty each earned All-Tournament acclaim.
The Spartans traveled to Baltimore for the Super Regional best-of-three series against then top-ranked Johns Hopkins. In the first game, CWRU bounced back from an early 3-0 deficit with a four-run fourth inning to take a one-run lead, but the Blue Jays tied the game in the bottom of the inning. The score remained knotted until Johns Hopkins scored two in the bottom of the seventh and one in the eighth and went on to win 7-4. The next day, the Blue Jays jumped out to a 5-0 lead after the first inning and a 7-1 advantage after the second, eventually leading by as many as seven runs in the contest. CWRU chipped away at the lead behind graduate student first baseman Dane Camphausen's standout day at the plate that included two home runs, four runs batted in, and a two-run double in the sixth that cut the Blue Jays' lead to just three runs. However, Johns Hopkins added two more runs late to pull away for a 12-7 win and eliminate the Spartans from the postseason.
CWRU finished the season ranked 13th in final D3baseball.com Top-25 Poll, matching the highest final ranking in program history. The Spartans were either ranked or received votes in each of the polls issued during the year.
The Spartans' success during the season could be mostly attributed to its offense, which finished the season ranked 12th among Division III teams in hits (537), 18th in home runs (51), 21st in batting average (.330) and runs (415), and 23rd in doubles (102), while setting program records for home runs, runs scored, and stolen bases (113).
Harms capped off his historic career as a Spartan by earning All-America honors for the first time in his career after batting a team-high .401 with a .775 slugging percentage and a .498 on-base percentage. He connected for 14 home runs (the second-most in a season in program history) while adding 14 doubles, six triples, 60 runs scored, 58 RBIs, and stole 17 bases on as many attempts. Harms was also named to the ABCA Regional All-Defensive Team. He ended his career as the program's all-time leader in home runs with 45.
Camphausen was also named an All-American after setting a program record with 19 home runs (fifth among DIII players in 2025), while his 63 career home runs ranked as the fourth-most by a player in Division III history. He completed the year batting .384 with a team-high 59 RBIs and scored 47 runs over his 39 games played while adding 11 doubles and slugging .811 with a .460 on-base percentage.
Anderson, an all-region honoree, started all 45 games for the Spartans and hit .366 with a .525 slugging percentage and a .480 on-base percentage. He totaled nine doubles, four triples, and four home runs while scoring 57 runs, driving in 41, and stealing 18 bases during the campaign. Anderson ended his career as the program's all-time leader in career hits (298 – the 12th-most in DIII history), runs (220), doubles (70), triples (17), total bases (432), and walks (104).
Other all-region honorees for CWRU included sophomore infielder/pitcher Tyler Stillson (.351, eight home runs, 48 RBIs) and Alonso (.353, two home runs, 24 RBIs, 19 stolen bases). Besides playing stellar defense at third base with just two errors committed all year, Carinci hit .345 with a home run and 27 RBIs. Additional contributors to the Spartans' record-setting offense in 2025 included senior outfielder Logan Andreyko (.279, one home run, 26 RBIs), Arterburn (.268, 30 RBIs), senior outfielder Jay Smith (.313, 18 RBIs), and Trout (.266, two home runs, 16 RBIs).
On the mound, the Spartans pitched to a 6.18 earned run average with a .277 opponents' batting average with CWRU's hurlers striking out 385 batters, the second-most in program history. Sophomore southpaw Quinn Saunders went 3-1 with a 4.14 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 45.2 innings over 12 starts. The remainder of CWRU's rotation featured Stillson (2-1, 6.02 ERA) and first-years Charlie Griffith (4-1, 6.02 ERA) and Eric Colgrove (1-1, 8.06 ERA).
The team leaned heavily on its bullpen during the year, which was paced by junior Archer Stankowski, who led the team with 47.0 innings and went 6-1 with a 4.98 ERA. Other bulk relievers for the Spartans in 2025 included first-years Oliver Miller (3-2, 3.90 ERA), Shetty (1-0, 4.80 ERA), and Jeff Radinsky (2-0, 5.94 ERA), and sophomore Zach Barnes (3-2, 9.30 ERA). In addition to catching, Anderson anchored the back end of games for CWRU in 2025, going 2-0 with a 3.48 ERA and four saves.
Despite the team's strong finish, the Spartans started the campaign with just a 3-4 record after their first seven games. CWRU opened the year with three games at the Crossroads Crossover Series in Westfield, Indiana, with the team's only win, a 13-3 victory over Heidelberg, highlighted by a five-for-five day at the plate from Camphausen, including a DIII-record four home runs. Camphausen also set program records with 17 total bases and eight runs batted in during the game, and went on to earn UAA Hitter of the Week, D3baseball.com Team of the Week, and NCBWA Division III Hitter of the Week honors for the effort.
CWRU went on to win two of three games at the Derby City Classic in Louisville, Kentucky, before heading south for a stretch of nine games in eight days. The Spartans dropped their first game of six at the Spartan Southern Classic in Lexington, South Carolina, but went on to win the next five, including an 8-3 win over 16th-ranked Baldwin Wallace. From there, CWRU traveled back north for the Marietta/ BSN Sports Invitational, claiming a 12-11 win over Wittenberg with a walk-off home run by Carinci and a 16-4 victory in seven innings over Johnson & Wales. The Spartans then dropped three of their next four games heading into conference play to begin their UAA slate with an overall record of 11-7.
CWRU went on to take three of four games from 24th-ranked WashU on the road, Emory at home, and 21st-ranked Chicago on the road to put the team in the driver's seat for the conference title. The Spartans returned home to Cleveland to face NYU and went 2-1-1 against the Violets. The following weekend, CWRU traveled to Waltham, Massachusetts, and after splitting a doubleheader against Brandeis on Friday, clinched sole possession of the UAA Championship and the conference's automatic bid to the postseason with a 25-18 victory against the Judges on Saturday, April 26.
The Spartans completed UAA play with a streak of 11 consecutive series wins in the league. CWRU led all UAA teams in batting average (.349), runs (196), doubles (50), triples (7), RBIs (177), slugging percentage (.517), on-base percentage (.436), and stolen bases (58) over the 20 league games. Harms became the third player in program history to be named the UAA Position Player of the Year after batting .383 with a .679 slugging percentage, .495 on-base percentage, five home runs, 22 RBIs, and 11 stolen bases in conference games. He was joined on the All-UAA First Team by Anderson and Camphausen, while Alonso, Carinci, and Stillson each earned Second Team recognition. The CWRU coaching staff, led by Head Coach Matt Englander, was named the UAA Coaching Staff of the Year for the second year in a row and the third time overall in program history.
CWRU wrapped up its regular season with home wins over Baldwin Wallace and John Carroll to enter the NCAA Tournament with a 27-12-1 overall record and earn the right to host the NCAA DIII Regionals on its home field.
In addition to the team's success on the field, several Spartans received honors for their academic achievements following the season. Harms became the first player in program history to be named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-America Team three times over a career, securing a spot on the First Team. Carinci was named to the Second Team, marking the second time in his career he has secured the honor, while Stillson was also named to the Second Team, claiming the award in his first year of eligibility. The trio was joined on the CSC Academic All-District Team by Alonso and Anderson. Seventeen members of the team – Alonso, Anderson, Andreyko, Barnes, senior pitcher Jackson Brewer, Carinci, junior infielder Thomas Downs, senior pitcher Kyle Gearding, Harms, junior infielder Jasiah Harris, junior pitcher Austin McGowan, sophomore pitcher Armand Ortiz, Smith, Stankowski, Trout, and sophomore catcher Carson Walker – earned UAA Spring All-Academic honors in 2025.
The Spartans earned the following honors during the 2025 season:
The following were the CWRU team leaders in 2025:
