2023 Kean Baseball Preview
By Matthew Sierra | Published February 16, 2023
The spring semester is in full swing and it is time to get ready for the spring sports season at Kean University. Baseball season is approaching, and it is bringing the white-hot Kean Cougars. However, do they have what it takes to make a statement this season much like they did in 2022?
It’s important to know what made them such a threat last season and what will make them the team to beat this upcoming season.
The Cougars finished their 2022 season with a 31-13 record and 12-6 record in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC). Seven players won All-NJAC selections, including outfielder Kyle Adorno, who won the NJAC Rookie of the Year award.
Adorno was a major factor at the plate sporting a .358 batting average and a .431 on-base percentage as a freshman. Another notable player that was a standout in 2022 is All-NJAC Honorable Mention infielder Brett Hilsheimer.
Hilsheimer capped off his remarkable season with a .346 batting line as well as a .472 slugging percentage.
Pitching is a significant factor in winning in baseball, and that is precisely why pitcher, Collin Kiernan, is going to play a pivotal role this upcoming season. The right-hander out of Verona, N.J. boasted a 9-2 record with a 2.39 ERA.
With a large number of freshman talent on the team this season, including but not limited to: Sean DuBois, Tyler Stone, Colten Gottlob, and Joe Giori, Kean is a force to be reckoned with.
Entering his twenty-sixth season as the skipper of the Kean Cougars baseball team, Coach Neil Ioviero looks to carry over his historic run as a head coach. The 2007 NCAA Division III National Champion and Coach of the Year, looks to take his team to the Promised Land once again. After obtaining his 700th victory as a head coach, his coaching style has remained the same.
“We’re teachers of the game,” Ioviero said of his coaching style. “Teach each player the way that they learn. If a player is more visual, the coaching staff will adapt to make sure that player understands the information.”
The Cougars’ season will begin on Feb. 9 at home against the Widener University Pride in a non-conference matchup. It is going to take a herculean effort to do better than the season prior, but with all the fresh talent and the experienced veterans returning, the Kean Cougars will be the team to beat in 2023.
“Our mentality has always been, do it again and do it better, it shouldn’t take another player’s good season to motivate another player,” Ioviero said.
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