Clarke University Men's Baseball

Spain guided his 2016 squad to a memorable 38 wins, once again breaking the school record for wins for the third time in four seasons. The Crusaders finished 38-17 overall and qualified for the program's first ever appearance in the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round, following a runner-up finish in the A.I.I. Championships. Led by a pitching staff which ended the season with a 3.21 era, the 2016 squad was able to outscore opponents by 247 runs and broke nearly all standard statistics at Clarke University in a season. The Crusaders were one of the top teams in the nation in earned run average, runs scored, slugging percentage, stolen bases and fielding percentage. They also led the A.I.I. conference in home runs, triples and fielding percentage. Four all-conference performers were selected, two gold glove winners, three A.I.I. all tournament winners and two were named to the Opening Round All-Tournament team. To accompany their success on the field, the 2016 squad was also named as an NAIA National Scholar Team. 2013 set the tone under Spains leadership. In his first full season as the head baseball coach, the Crusaders managed to break multiple school records, including wins in a season and had nine players named to the all-conference team. 2014 Accomplishments: 2 All-Conference players, 7 Academic All-Conference and 4 NAIA Scholar Athlete award winners. Named an NAIA National Scholar Team. 2015 Clarke baseball once again rewrote the record books, breaking the 2013 seasons previous wins record with a 30-win season. Led by All-American Andrew Redman, they put themselves in position for a regular season championship by putting together a 10-game winning streak, but fell short losing a 12-inning battle for the regular season MCC Conference Championship. Redman was named as the MCC Player of the Year, and also became Clarke Baseballs first NAIA All American as well as an NAIA Academic All American. 2015 saw 8 player of the week awards, 6 All Conference performers, 1 Gold Glove, 6 Academic All-Conference award winners and 2 NAIA Scholar-Athletes. They were also named as an NAIA National Scholar Team. Spain, a graduate of Maquoketa High School, completed his bachelors degree in kinesiology from Clarke University in 2010. Spain lives in his hometown of Delmar, Iowa, with his wife, Jessica, and son, Grady. In his second season as pitching coach for the Crusaders, Andrew Redman brought five years of experience from multiple college programs. As a graduate of Hempstead High School in Dubuque, Iowa, Andrew was an all-conference selection his last three years. He was the Mississippi Valley Conference Player of the Year as a senior, and fashioned the lowest ERA in the state (0.41). Redman continued his success on the mound in college. At Iowa Central, Andrew compiled a 12-8 record over two years and was an all-conference selection both years. His ERA was 2.05 over those two years. At Clarke, Andrew set multiple records on the mound and was a first-team MCC pitcher his junior year. As a redshirt senior, He went 6-2 with a 1.68 ERA but his batting is what brought him to a national spotlight. In his only collegiate year of hitting, he batted .425 with 62 hits, 9 HRs and 50 RBIs. His accolades for this year are as follows: Redman hopes to bring valuable experience to a pitching staff that is young but very talented. Aside from pitching, he will help the rest of the coaching staff on the offensive side of the game, as well as assist in recruiting. Red not only brings in a vast knowledge on the mound, but also has proven himself as someone with an advanced understanding of hitting. As difficult as it is to do much more for this program, I anticipate he will be an even better coach as he has been as a player. He has had a major role in this program as a leader since the day he stepped on campus, which insures that his transition into a coaching role will be very natural for him.