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In his second year at the University of Dallas, Coach Strockbine led the team to a 19-17-1 record. The 2007 team was led by seniors and AD3I All-Independent first team members Chase Violette (Euless, TX/Trinity H.S.) and Fraser Holmes (Grand Prairie, TX/Grace Prep Academy). Violette was also named to the ABCA's NCAA DIII All-West Region Team. In two seasons at UD Strockbine is 38-32-1. Coach Strockbine can be reached at 972-265-5778 or cstrockbine@udallas.edu.

Strockbine is assisted by UD alum and former UD baseball player Andrew Ravaglia. He will serve as the pitching coach and can be reached at 972-721-5117 or ravaglia@udallas.edu.

2008 Season Preview

As the warm weather slowly creeps back into the Dallas, the Crusader baseball team also begins to heat up. Season play begins this Saturday, February 2, with home games against Hendrix College. The team, led by coaches Chris Strockbine and Andrew Ravaglia, looks to build on the two successful fall games and work toward an improvement on the 19-17-1 season from a year ago.

The first game of the fall series with North Texas included both a dominating offensive and defensive effort from the Crusaders. Dallas jumped off to an electric start, which resulted in a 9-0 lead by the end of the third inning. North Texas tried to climb back in the game with 4 runs in the 4th inning but Dallas shut the door by scoring 4 runs in the next two innings. Lead by the solid middle of the order, which produced 7 of the 13 RBIs for the Crusaders, the UD offense looks to be very potent this season. If the middle of the order can continue to produce as it did in the game against North Texas, they will enjoy many comfortable leads late in games this spring. Solid pitching also contributed to the victory in the second game against North Texas. This strong pitching staff struck out almost 1/3 of the batters the Crusaders faced meaning it could be a long season for the opposing batters.

The second game of the double header provided the crowd with another enjoyable experience. The Crusaders, once again led by both offense and pitching, dominated on the way to a 16-6 victory. The middle of the line up again produced 9 RBIs, which would have been enough to down North Texas if Chad Violette wouldn’t have decided to throw in 5 more. Both he and Tom Fogerty contributed 5 RBIs to the victory. Despite giving up two more runs than in the first game, the pitching staff turned in another solid performance using five pitchers. The pitching staff again had a good strikeout to walk ratio, which could lead to many wins this spring for this Crusader team.

From the look of the fall games and practice so far this spring, the Crusaders look to have a solid team. The offense led by the middle of line up could light up the scoreboard all season long. Double digit run totals could be close to the norm for this Crusader team. The pitching staff, which this year seems to be very strike out oriented, looks to shut down teams all season long. If both the offense and defense stay solid all year long, this team could be successful despite a schedule filled with many of the powerhouses from NCAA Division III.

The team not only plays preseason #18 UT-Tyler but also three other top 10 teams. Preseason #4 Chapman University highlights the home schedule for the Crusaders which includes 24 home games. Chapman will visit Crusader Field the last weekend of the season for a three game series May 2 through the 4th. On the road, the Crusaders will have to meet the stiff challenges of preseason #5 Emory University and #8 Carthage College. The Crusaders have 16 road games plus the RussMat Tournament in Florida, which combined with the home schedule, combine to form one of the toughest schedules in NCAA Division III.

Despite the tough schedule, Strockbine and Ravaglia look forward to a successful spring campaign resulting from hard work in both the fall and spring. The tough schedule should produce a hard-nosed team, which will be able to battle the good teams of Division III for hard fought wins. With an offense looking to be explosive and a pitching staff looking to close the door along with them, this team should produce one of the best seasons in recent memory.

2008 Roster Update

Coming off of a 19-17-1 season, third year head coach Chris Strockbine is looking at a promising 2007-08 campaign. With eight returning players, Strockbine and pitching coach Andrew Ravaglia have brought in 13 newcomers. Of the 13 newcomers, 4 are promising freshmen pitchers. The 4 fresh arms – Phillip Carkhuff (Marietta, GA/The Lovett School), Matt Colston (Burleson, TX/Burleson H.S.), Jeff Kress (Austin, TX/St. Michaels Academy), and Martin Lopez (Albuquerque, NM/Rollins College) – should combine with top returning pitchers senior Scott Crisp (Farmers Branch, TX/Lakehill Prep Academy), junior Clay Evans (Richardson, TX/Richardson H.S.), and junior Joe Packard (Lindale, TX/Lindale H.S.) to form one of the best staffs UD has had in recent memory.

Other returnees include starting infielder & junior Tom Fogerty (Parker, CO/Ponderosa H.S.), and senior outfielder Chad Violette (Euless, TX/Trinity H.S.). The duo was recognized by the Association of Division III Independents as All-Independent selections following the 2007 campaign. Junior left-handed pitcher Evans will also see time in the outfield. The rest of the 14 newcomers are now battling for the remaining 5 field positions, not including the starting pitchers. UD’s infield potentials include sophomores Zach Atkins (Grand Prairie, TX/South Grand Prairie H.S.), Sean McSheffery (Woodridge, IL/Downers Grove North H.S.) and transfer Scott Atkins (Pearland, TX/UT Dallas), as well as freshmen Kyle Huard (Surprise, AZ/Willow Canyon H.S.), David Rettinger (San Antonio, TX/Central Catholic H.S.) and Lopez. Possibilities in rounding out the outfield are freshmen Luke Kersting (Napa, CA/Trinity H.S.), Andrew Kent (Keller, TX/Bethesda Christian), Viron Hackney (The Woodlands, TX/College Park H.S) and transferring sophomore Mike Fattaleh (Phoenix, AZ/Phoenix College). The Crusaders’ starting catcher will be returning senior Fraser Holmes (Grand Prairie, TX/Grace Prep Academy) and will be backed up by McSheffery. Holmes was named to the USCAA’s 2007 Academic and Athletic All-American teams, and joined Fogerty and Violette as AD3I All-Independent selections at the conclusion of the season.

Crusader Baseball History

Baseball at the University of Dallas dates back as far as the 1916 and 1917 seasons. After a forty year absence, baseball returned to the University of Dallas under the leadership of legendary baseball coach, Al Ogletree. The program was again dropped in 1981, but made a successful return in 1998. Since returning, the baseball teams at the University of Dallas have combined for a record of 243-115-9 in ten seasons.

The Association of Division III Independents

The University of Dallas is a charter member of the Association of Division III Indpendents. Please click on the heading below to check out all the latest information.