Wartburg Knights baseball

The Wartburg Knights baseball program represents Wartburg College in college baseball. The program started in 1958. The team competes in the NCAA Division III and a member of the American Rivers Conference (ARC).[2] The team plays its home games at Harms Stadium at Hertel field in Waverly, Iowa.

Wartburg Knights
Founded1958
Head coachCasey Klunder (1st season)
ConferenceARC
LocationWaverly, Iowa
Home stadiumHarms Stadium at Hertel Field
(Capacity: 500)
NicknameKnights
ColorsOrange and Black[1]
   
College World Series appearances
2000, 2005
NCAA Tournament appearances
1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017
Conference tournament champions
1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2017
Regular season conference champions
1961, 1962, 1963, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017

History

The Wartburg Knights baseball team played its first season in 1958, with its first game coming against Iowa Wesleyan. The program rose to national relevance in the late 1990s, early 2000s when Joel Holst was hired in 1996. During that time the Knights won 12 straight conference regular season championships and appeared in the college world series on two occasions (2000, 2005). During the 2005 College World Series the Knights played in two games that set records; the first was the longest game in series history in terms of innings, when they defeated Rowan College in 16 innings 8–6 and then played in the shortest game in series history when they lost to SUNY Cortland 5–0 in 1 hour and 52 minutes.[3] The program has won a conference leading 22 conference championships, the most recent coming 2017 when they won three straight IIAC titles.[4] Joel Holst resigned from his head coaching position prior to the 2023 season.[5] Following his resignation, Casey Chaplin was named interim head coach for the 2023 baseball season.[6] Following the 2023 season, Casey Klunder, was tabbed as the fifth head coach in program history.[7]

Record by year

This is a table of the Wartburg Knights record year-by-year.[8]

Statistics overview
Season Coach Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Wartburg (Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (1958–2017)
1958 Earnest Oppermann 11–7
1959 Earnest Oppermann 9–8
1960 Earnest Oppermann 7–5
1961 Earnest Oppermann 14–6
1962 Earnest Oppermann 10–6
1963 Earnest Oppermann 13–6
1964 Earnest Oppermann 18–6
1965 Earnest Oppermann 3–8
1966 Earnest Oppermann 12–8
1967 Earnest Oppermann 15–5
1968 Earnest Oppermann 12–8
1969 Earnest Oppermann 11–9
1970 Earnest Oppermann 12–17
1971 Earnest Oppermann 11–19
1972 Earnest Oppermann 7–7
1973 Earnest Oppermann 9–14
1974 Earnest Oppermann 7–185–8
1975 Earnest Oppermann 13–146–0
1976 Earnest Oppermann 16–168–2
1977 Earnest Oppermann 12–2010–2
1978 Earnest Oppermann 16–209–3
1979 Earnest Oppermann 14–1111–1
1980 Earnest Oppermann 9–236–6
1981 Earnest Oppermann 17–2110–4
1982 Earnest Oppermann 13–197–3
1983 John Kurtt 10–226–6
1984 John Kurtt 11–169–9
1985 John Kurtt 12–1510–10
1986 John Kurtt 16–2214–8
1987 John Kurtt 15–2011–7
1988 John Kurtt 16–20
1989 John Kurtt 14–22–110–7–1
1990 John Kurtt 12–1910–10
1991 John Kurtt 10–228–8
1992 John Kurtt 9–256–15
1993 John Kurtt 4–162–8
1994 Randy Moore 17–148–10
1995 Randy Moore 12–215–147th
1996 Joel Holst 20–20–17–94th
1997 Joel Holst 30–1616–41stNCAA Regional
1998 Joel Holst 40–1020–41stNCAA Regional
1999 Joel Holst 33–13–117–61stNCAA Regional
2000 Joel Holst 41–922–21stCollege World Series
2001 Joel Holst 37–9–120–21stNCAA Regional
2002 Joel Holst 29–1516–51stNCAA Regional
2003 Joel Holst 33–12–114–61stNCAA Regional
2004 Joel Holst 30–1515–51st
2005 Joel Holst 37–1118–31stCollege World Series
2006 Joel Holst 27–1511–5T–1st
2007 Joel Holst 28–1318–5T–1st
2008 Joel Holst 27–1517–31stNCAA Regional
2009 Joel Holst 28–2014–104thNCAA Regional
2010 Joel Holst 25–1917–72nd
2011 Joel Holst 26–1816–82nd
2012 Joel Holst 23–2014–103rd
2013 Joel Holst 35–1020–61stNCAA Regional
2014 Joel Holst 25–1719–92nd
2015 Joel Holst 33–1419–51stNCAA Regional
2016 Joel Holst 34–1324–41stNCAA Regional
2017 Joel Holst 33–1419–51stNCAA Regional
2018 Joel Holst 26–1315–62nd
Wartburg Knights (American Rivers Conference) (2019–Present)
2019 Joel Holst 13–269–157th
2020 Joel Holst 9–10–0Season canceled due to COVID-19
2021 Joel Holst 14–2812–206th
2022 Joel Holst 25–2112–126th
2023 Casey Chaplin 14–219–156th
2024 Casey Klunder
Total:

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

    Head coaching history

    As of the completion of 2023 season[9]

    Tenure Coach Years Record Pct.
    1958–1982Earnest Oppermann25292–300–0.493
    1983–1993John Kurtt11192–210–0.478
    1994–1995Randy Moore229–35–0.453
    1996–2022Joel Holst27761–407–4.651
    2023Casey Chaplin1†14–21–0.400
    2023–presentCasey Klunder00–0–0–
    Totals 5 coaches 66 seasons 1288–973–4 .570

    † Casey Chaplin served as the interim head coach for the 1 season following the departure of Joel Holst.

    American Rivers Conference tournaments

    Wartburg has made 28 appearances in the American Rivers Conference tournament and 19 appearances in the tournament championship game; both of which is the most in tournament history.[10] They appeared in 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023. They have an overall record of 65–38–0, with 10 championships, the last in 2017.[11]

    References
    1. "Brand Guidlines Wartburg College" (PDF). Retrieved March 22, 2023.
    2. "Baseball History Wartburg College Athletics".
    3. https://www.d3baseball.com/playoffs/record-book
    4. https://wcfcourier.com/sports/college/college-baseball-wartburg-secures-third-consecutive-iiac-title/article_72684663-9d5f-59d4-8712-d9749b8d08fe.html
    5. https://www.kwwl.com/sports/wartburg-college-baseball-coach-resigns-ahead-of-beginning-of-season/article_cdf79ae8-b47c-11ed-9d33-4f11270e4237.html
    6. https://www.communitynewspapergroup.com/waverly_newspapers/chaplin-named-interim-wartburg-head-baseball-coach/article_8e8d5dea-63d8-5ea3-9284-9c0e3144e793.html
    7. https://www.kwwl.com/news/casey-klunder-to-become-wartburg-college-head-baseball-coach/article_31e03cf6-f530-11ed-af25-df68d221f2b9.html
    8. https://go-knights.net/documents/2020/11/12/BaseballRecordBook.pdf
    9. "Wartburg Knights Baseball Record Book" (PDF). Wartburg Knights. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
    10. https://rollrivers.com/sports/2011/3/21/BB_IIACTournament.aspx
    11. https://wcfcourier.com/sports/college/college-baseball-wartburg-charges-into-ncaa-tournament/article_74170a5c-0862-5e83-90c2-860bcbab14c2.html
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