Kenyon College Men's Baseball

Burdette Head Baseball Coach / Assistant AD - Game Management Entering his 21st season as the Lords head coach, Matt Burdette, a four-time NCAC Coach of the Year (1998, 2005, 2006, 2009), is looking to improve upon his bounce-back 2015 season and compete, once again, to be one of the best teams in the NCAC. During his tenure, Burdette has placed 79players on All-NCAC teams and 13 on All-Region teams. Under Burdette's tutelage, the Lords have set single-season team records in nearly every offensive category, established the College record for wins in a season (27 in 2006 and 2012), and achieved the program's highest national and regional rankings. Burdettes players continue to possess success on and off of the diamond at Kenyon. During his tenure as head coach, he has witnessed three players go on to be named Academic All-Americans by College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) and has coached two Major League Baseball draft picks (Jack Graham 12, Baltimore and Jesse Weiss 13, Milwaukee). A veteran of NCAC play (four seasons as a player at Wooster), Burdette feels he has the ingredients of a good ball club. "We have great depth and more talent than ever before so it will be interesting to see how things develop. We plan to use a lot of bodies and make it a more competitive atmosphere. That should be a benefit in the long run." As a player, Burdette competed and captained Wooster teams that won two conference championships, earned three regional berths, and one trip to the Division III Small College World Series. During his playing days with the Fighting Scots, he was a three-time All-NCAC performer and All-Mideast Region honoree. Matt and wife Kelly reside in nearby Howard, Ohio with their three daughters.  

Jared Ferenchak, tabbed the Lords' pitching coach at the start of the 2021-22 academic year, comes to Gambier after serving two seasons as an assistant on the Wilmington College Quakers baseball staff. At Wilmington, an NCAA Division III institution that competes in the Ohio Athletic Conference, Ferenchak held the position of pitching coach, as well as recruiting coordinator. A 2019 graduate of Wilmington, Ferenchak was a four-year member of the baseball team. On the mound, he appeared in 51 career games, logging 34 starts and 213 innings pitched. As a senior, he was named the team's Most Valuable Pitcher, leading the Quakers in wins, innings pitched, saves, complete games and earned run average.

Ron Krsolovic, who will serve as the Lords' hitting coach, arrives on campus for the 2021-22 campaign after working as an assistant coach at NCAA Division II Lake Erie College. His main responsibilities with the Storm were working with the hitters and position players. Krsolovic is a 2019 graduate of NCAA Division I Oakland University, where he was a two-year performer at third base, starting 76 of 78 games for the Golden Grizzlies. As a senior, he was named to the All-Horizon League Academic Team. Prior to his time at Oakland, Krsolovic was a member of the baseball, cross-country and basketball teams at Harford Community College in Bel Air, Maryland. During his two years at Harford, the baseball team went a combined 105-21, winning 49 of 51 league games and appearing in the College World Series. Currently, Krsolovic is a member of both the Croatian National Baseball Team and the Tupper Lake RiverPigs of the Empire Professional Baseball League.

Danny LaPera enters his seventh season with the Denison University baseball program in 2026 where he serves as catching coach and assists with the hitters. In what would be the most historic year in Big Red baseball history, as the 2025 season saw new heights reached. The team finished with a 41-7 record and 14-1 conference record with a trip to the NCAA Division III World Series for the first time in program history. The Big Red finished with an .854 winning percentage, the fourth-highest in the country. LePera helped guide the Big Red to an NCAC Regular Season Championship for the fifth-straight season and a NCAC Tournament Championship for the sixth-straight season as well (excluding COVID). The Big Red defeated Wooster in the championship game 10-5 to earn an automatic berth and host the NCAA Regional Tournament. Denison would dominate in regionals, going a perfect 3-0 outscoring their opponents 31-8 for their second consecutive NCAA Regional title. The team would then host the Super Regionals against Belhaven University for a best-of-three series, where the Big Red would continue their onslaught in a 2-0 sweep. Denison outscored Belhaven 31-4 in those two games to advance to the NCAA Division III World Series for the first time in program history. In the World Series, Denison would face off against Rowan University in a high-scoring affair, winning 12-10 to advance in the double elimination style bracket. The team would lose to eventual champion Wisconsin-Whitewater 11-4, and lose their elimination game in a rematch with Rowan, 6-1. Erik Sundgren was named a ABCA/Rawlings First Team All-American, while Nick Falter was named ABCA/Rawlings and D3baseball.com Second Team All-American. Eric Colaco was named to ABCA/Rawlings Third Team All-America, and Sam Larson was named D3baseball.com Second Team All-America. In addition, Sundgren was Position Player of the Year. Colaco and Falter were named NCAC Player of the Year, and 12 earned All-NCAC team distinction. The 2024 season was a historic one for the Big Red. Denison finished with a school record 42 wins and its first-ever appearance in the Division III Baseball Super Regionals. The Big Red finished with the second-best winning percentage in D-III baseball. Denison won at a .840 clip during the 2024 season. The 42 wins were the fourth most in Division III. LaPera helped the Big Red earn a share of the NCAC conference regular season title and secured its spot in the NCAA Tournament by earning the NCAC's automatic berth following a pair of wins over Wittenberg on May 12. The Big Red finished off its fifth-straight tournament title with a 17-7 win over the Tigers. The following weekend, Denison secured its first NCAA Regional title following a perfect 3-0 mark at Big Red Field. Denison combined to outscore its opponents 54-8 over the three-game stretch. Following the end of the season, Denison had three student-athletes earn All-America baseball honors. D3baseball.com awarded Eric Colaco with its highest honor as D3baseball.com Player of the year.  The Big Red finished their 2023 season 36-10 overall, earning the second most wins in a single season in program history for the second year in a row and advancing to the regional championship game for the third year in a row. This marked the fifth consecutive NCAA Regional appearance and the second straight year hosting regionals for Denison. The Big Red also captured the North Coast Athletic Conference Regular-Season Championship for the third straight year and won the NCAC Tournament Championship for the fourth straight season. Denison could not be stopped in its quest to finish a perfect 16-0 in NCAC action. It was the first undefeated conference season in the NCAC since the College of Wooster in 2007, and was the first 16-0 season in conference history. Then with its 7-2 victory over second-seeded Wittenberg University to wins its fourth consecutive NCAC Tournament crown, Denison joined the 2000 Ohio Wesleyan University baseball team as the only NCAC teams with an undefeated regular season and an undefeated tournament run.  Denison finished its 2022 season 35-11, which at the time was the second most wins in program history, while also hosting an NCAA Regional for the first time in program history. The season also marked Denison's fourth consecutive NCAA Regional berth. During the second round of the Granville Regional against No. 7 nationally-ranked and defending NCAA Division III National Champion Salisbury University, the Big Red earned a 2-0 shutout victory that sent them to the regional championship for the second year in a row. The Big Red also set a new program record for conference wins (16-2), won a second straight NCAC regular-season championship and claimed their third straight NCAC Tournament Championship with an 8-1 victory over Wooster in the title game. Prior to joining the coaching staff at Denison, LePera served as an assistant baseball coach at Ohio Dominican University for the previous three seasons. During his first two years at ODU, LePera served as the hitting, catching, and strength & conditioning coach. In his first year (2017) he guided Panther hitters to the tops of numerous statistical categories in the GLIAC including scoring (3rd), OPS (1st), slugging (1st), on-base percentage (2nd), and batting average (1st). Nationally the Panthers finished 13th in slugging and 17th in batting average. In his second season (2018) as hitting coach, Panther hitters saw much success again. The Panthers finished atop every major category in the GMAC including scoring (8.66 Runs per Game), OPS (.906), slugging (.487), OBP (.419), and batting average (.333). Nationally the Panthers finished 8th in scoring with 8.66 runs per game, 14th in OBP, and fourth in BA. ODU finished the 2018 season with a 36-17 record, capturing the GMAC Regular Season North Division Championship, and reaching the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship title game. In his final year (2018) at ODU, LePera served as the catching and strength and conditioning coach and designed throwing programs for the pitching staff. During his three seasons at ODU, he aided in the development of two MLB draft picks, and numerous players who garnished All-American, regional/conference player of the year, all-region, and all-conference honors. ODU catchers during his time there captured all-conference honors every year including an All-American selection in 2018. LePera is also the owner and founder of Top Notch Trainers & TNT Baseball Academy in Columbus, Ohio. At TNT, LePera oversees the day-to-day operations, along with managing two Summer collegiate teams, four youth teams, and numerous coaches and instructors. In 2017, LePera served as both manager and head coach of the TNT Knights of the Ohio Collegiate Summer Baseball League. The Knights won the OCSBL Championship in their inaugural season and LePera was selected to coach the All-Star game vs. the SWOL. In 2018 and 2019, LePera served as the general manager of both the TNT Knights and newly formed TNT Jays, with the Knights repeating as league champions. In 2019, the TNT Knights won the League for third straight year while the Jays more than tripled their win total in the second year. Following the 2019 season, LePera was appointed as president of the Ohio Collegiate Summer Baseball Association. A native of Gahanna, Ohio, LePera was named a captain of the baseball team at Gahanna Lincoln High School where he received both all-conference and all-district honors as a junior and senior. Collegiately, LePera spent his first year and a half at Coastal Carolina University, where they won the 2001 Big South Championship and reached the NCAA Regional at Georgia Tech. He finished his playing career at Rio Grande University where he was a three-year letter winner. LePera currently resides in Blacklick, Ohio with his wife, Amanda, and daughters, Emory and Ayla.