2024 North Alabama Lions baseball team

2024 North Alabama Lions baseball
2024 North Alabama Lions baseball
Conference	Atlantic Sun Conference
Record	17–31 (9–17 ASUN)
Head coach	Jad Prachniak (2nd season);
Assistant coaches	Chris Blakey (3rd season); Nick Patton (2nd season); David Mervis (2nd season);
Home stadium	Mike D. Lane Field

2024 ASUN Conference baseball standings
	Conf.						Overall
Team	W		L		T	PCT	W		L		T	PCT
Austin Peay ‍†‍‍	20	–	10	–	0	.667	36	–	21	–	0	.632
Stetson ‍†‍‡‍^y	20	–	10	–	0	.667	40	–	20	–	0	.667
Florida Gulf Coast ‍†‍‍	20	–	10	–	0	.667	30	–	26	–	0	.536
Kennesaw State ‍‍‍	19	–	10	–	0	.655	32	–	24	–	0	.571
Jacksonville ‍‍‍	18	–	12	–	0	.600	27	–	31	–	0	.466
Lipscomb ‍‍‍	15	–	15	–	0	.500	22	–	34	–	0	.393
Eastern Kentucky ‍‍‍	14	–	16	–	0	.467	20	–	37	–	0	.351
Central Arkansas ‍‍‍	12	–	18	–	0	.400	26	–	30	–	0	.464
North Florida ‍‍‍	11	–	17	–	1	.397	21	–	30	–	1	.413
North Alabama ‍‍‍	10	–	19	–	1	.350	18	–	35	–	1	.343
Queens* ‍‍‍	10	–	20	–	0	.333	14	–	41	–	0	.255
Bellarmine* ‍‍‍	9	–	21	–	0	.300	10	–	45	–	0	.182

† – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament * Ineligible for the 2024 NCAA tournament due to transition from Division II As of May 26, 2024^[1] Rankings from D1Baseball

The 2024 North Alabama Lions baseball team represented the University of North Alabama during the 2024 NCAA Division I baseball season. They were led by head coach Jad Prachniak, in his 2nd season at UNA. The Lions played their home games at Mike D. Lane Field as a members of the Atlantic Sun Conference.

This was the Lions' last season at Mike D. Lane Field as it was demolished to make room for their new stadium, Bank Independent Stadium.^[2]

Previous season

The 2023 team finished the season with a 14–37 record and a 8–22 record in ASUN play. They finished 13th in conference standings after a tiebreaker put UNA ahead of Bellarmine.^[3]^[4]

Preseason

Preseason ASUN honors

First baseman Kyle Machado was selected to the Preseason All-ASUN Team. He was the only North Alabama player selected to the fourteen person team.^[5]

Player	No.	Position	Class
Preseason All-ASUN Team
Kyle Machado	5	1B	Graduate Student

Coaches poll

The ASUN baseball coaches' poll was released on February 8, 2024.^[5]

ASUN Preseason Coaches' Poll
Predicted finish	Team	Points
1	Lipscomb	137 (7)
2	FGCU	123 (2)
3	Jacksonville	115 (1)
4	Stetson	103
5	Kennesaw State	99 (1)
6	Austin Peay	84 (1)
7	EKU	77
8	Central Arkansas	65
9	North Florida	56
10	Queens	30
11	North Alabama	25
12	Bellarmine	22

Personnel

2024 North Alabama Lions roster

Pitchers

7 – Carson Howard – Junior
10 – Jacob James – Senior
11 – Quinn Petty – Junior
15 – Jacob Bradshaw – Senior
18 – Avery Brown – Sophomore
19 – Dane Sykes – Senior
21 – Justus Agosto – Sophomore
22 – Brycen Parrish – Junior
23 – Evan Kingma – Senior
24 – Kevin Henrich – Sophomore
25 – Bryce Richter – Graduate
27 – Anthony Pingeton – Junior
29 – Justin Battle – Sophomore
31 – Raleigh Claunch – Sophomore
33 – Josh Bowerman - Sophomore
45 – Josh Allen Stogner – Junior
48 – David Burton – Junior
51 – Caleb Menina – Sophomore

Catchers

12 – Levi Jensen – Senior
14 – Andrew Knight – Graduate
28 – Andin Johnson – Junior
40 – Charlie Cochran – Sophomore

Infielders

2 – Leighton Jenkins – Junior
4 – Gehrig Frei – Sophomore
5 – Kyle Machado – Graduate
9 – Jackson Ferrigno – Sophomore
17 – Cal Cook – Senior
30 – Zak Majer – Senior
34 – Bryant Loving – Freshman
36 – Braden Ebeling – Freshman
37 – Ryan West – Junior
44 – Brady Moore – Junior

Outfielders

3 – Brant Brown – Junior
8 – Jonathan Lane – Junior
13 – Dominick McIntyre – Senior
16 – Ethan Walker – Sophomore
20 – Jackson Cheek – Sophomore
35 – Alex Wilson – Junior

Coaching staff

Name	Position	Seasons at North Alabama	Alma mater
Jad Prachniak	Head coach	2	University of Rhode Island (2005)
Chris Blakey	Associate Head Coach	3	University of North Alabama (2018)
Nick Patten	Assistant Baseball Coach / Hitting Coach	2	University of Delaware (2021)
David Mervis	Assistant Baseball Coach / Pitching Coach	2	University of Delaware (2021)

Source:^[6]

Schedule and results

Legend
	North Alabama win
	North Alabama loss
	Postponement/Cancellation/Suspensions
Bold	North Alabama team member

2024 North Alabama Lions baseball game log

Regular season

February
Date	Opponent	Rank	Site/stadium	Score	Win	Loss	Save	TV	Attendance	Overall record	ASUN record
February 16	at South Alabama		Eddie Stanky Field Mobile, AL	L 2–3	Gant Starling	Brycen Parrish	N/A	ESPN+	1,214	0–1	0–0
February 17	Southern Indiana		Eddie Stanky Field	W 13–7	Carson Howard	Gavin Wilson	N/A	ESPN+	654	1–1	0–0
February 18	Lamar		Eddie Stanky Field	L 1–9	Hunter Hesseltine	Kevin Henrich	N/A	ESPN+	856	1–2	0–0
February 20	Belmont		Mike D. Lane Field	L 2-6	Joe Ruzicka	Caleb Menina	N/A	ESPN+	152	1-3	0-0
February 23	Morehead State		Mike D. Lane Field	L 2–5	Luke Helton	Jacob Bradshaw	N/A	ESPN+	203	1-4	0-0
February 24	Morehead State		Mike D. Lane Field	W 9–6	Jacob James	Grant Herron	Dane Sykes	ESPN+	215	2-4	0-0
February 25	Morehead State		Mike D. Lane Field	L 9–13	Will Grimmett	Justus Agosto	N/A	ESPN+	265	2-5	0-0
February 27	at Murray State		Roy Stewart Stadium	L 1-8	Ethan Lyke	Dane Sykes	N/A	ESPN+	137	2-6	0-0

March
Date	Opponent	Rank	Site/stadium	Score	Win	Loss	Save	TV	Attendance	Overall record	ASUN record
March 2	UAB		Mike D. Lane Field	W 9–8	Anthony Pingeton	Braxton Brooks	N/A	ESPN+	272	3–6	0–0
March 2	UAB		Mike D. Lane Field	L 8–10	Brooks House	Justin Battle	Christian Clack	ESPN+	317	3–7	0–0
March 3	UAB		Mike D. Lane Field	L 3–8	Colin Daniels	Kevin Henrich	N/A	ESPN+	252	3–8	0–0
March 7	Murray State		Mike D. Lane Field	L 6–11	Ethan Lyke	John Allen Stogner	N/A	ESPN+	207	3–9	0–0
March 9	UT Martin		Mike D. Lane Field	W 10–0⁷	Jacob James	Tristan Walton	N/A	ESPN+	232	4–9	0–0
March 10	UT Martin		Mike D. Lane Field	W 3–1⁷	Jacob Bradshaw	Eric Steensma	Brycen Parrish	ESPN+	191	5–9	0–0
March 10	UT Martin		Mike D. Lane Field	W 5–2	Anthony Pingeton	Choyce Diffey	Caleb Menina	ESPN+	225	6–9	0–0
March 12	at Memphis		FedExPark	L 2–16⁷	Cade Davis	John Allen Stogner	N/A	ESPN+	597	6–10	0–0
March 16	Kennesaw State		Toyota Field^[7]	L 5–10	Nolan Silver	Brycen Parrish	N/A		422	6–11	0–1
March 16	Kennesaw State		Toyota Field	L 1–11⁷	Blake Aita	Jacob Bradshaw	N/A		489	6–12	0–2
March 17	Kennesaw State		Toyota Field	W 4–2	Dane Sykes	Smith Pinson	N/A		388	7–12	1–2
March 19	at Tennessee Tech		Howell Bush Stadium	W 8–4	John Allen Stogner	Reece McDuffie	Carson Howard	ESPN+	175	8–12	1–2
March 22	at Eastern Kentucky		Turkey Hughes Field	L 0–10⁷	Nathan Lawson	Jacob James	N/A	ESPN+	101	8–13	1–3
March 23	at Eastern Kentucky		Turkey Hughes Field	L 5–6	Joe Clancy	Brycen Parrish	Garrett Langrell	ESPN+	101	8–14	1–4
March 24	at Eastern Kentucky		Turkey Hughes Field	L 1–5	Rese Brown	Anthony Pingeton	Garrett Langrell	ESPN+	150	8–15	1–5
March 28	Lipscomb		Mike D. Lane Field	L 2–8	Alex Brewer	Jacob James	N/A	ESPN+	385	8–16	1–6
March 29	Lipscomb		Mike D. Lane Field	W 5–3	Caleb Menina	Chandler Giles	Dane Sykes	ESPN+	114	9–16	2–6
March 30	Lipscomb		Mike D. Lane Field	L 2–15⁷	Jake Poindexter	Anthony Pingeton	N/A	ESPN+	141	9–17	2–7

April
Date	Opponent	Rank	Site/stadium	Score	Win	Loss	Save	TV	Attendance	Overall record	ASUN record
April 3	Alabama A&M		Mike D. Lane Field	W 13–5	John Allen Stogner	Gabe Nicholson	N/A	ESPN+	115	10–17	2–7
April 5	at Jacksonville		John Sessions Stadium	W 9–1	Jacob James	Pe Prescott	N/A		371	11–17	3–7
April 6	at Jacksonville		John Sessions Stadium	L 2–9	Logan Jones	Dane Sykes	N/A		388	11–18	3–8
April 7	at Jacksonville		John Sessions Stadium	L 4–5¹⁰	Is Williams	Brycen Parrish	N/A	ESPN+	302	11–19	3–9
April 13	at Bellarmine		Knights Field	W 15–2⁷	Jacob James	Sam Matherly	N/A	ESPN+	125	12–9	4–9
April 13	at Bellarmine		Knights Field	L 11–12	Nolan Pender	Caleb Menina	N/A	ESPN+	125	12–10	4–10
April 14	at Bellarmine		Knights Field	W 22–3⁷	Anthony Pingeton	Thomas Sylvester	N/A	ESPN+	125	13–10	5–10
April 16	at Belmont		E. S. Rose Park	L 9–15	Caleb Guisewite	John Allen Stogner	N/A	ESPN+	123	13–11	5–10
April 19	Stetson		Mike D. Lane Field	L 4–8	Anthony DeFabbia	Jacob James	Zane Coppersmith		368	13–12	5–11
April 20	Stetson		Mike D. Lane Field	W 5–4	Jacob Bradshaw	Aric McAtee	Dane Sykes		274	14–12	6–11
April 21	Stetson		Mike D. Lane Field	L 1–4	Daniel Paret	Anthony Pingeton	Cole Stallings		372	14–13	6–12
April 23	at Ole Miss		Swayze Field	L 4–9	Grayson Saunier	John Allen Stogner	N/A	SECN+	12,996	14–14	6–12
April 26	Central Arkansas		Mike D. Lane Field	L 4–9	Jess Barker	Jacob James	H. Alexander	ESPN+	364	14–15	6–13
April 27	Central Arkansas		Mike D. Lane Field	L 4–14⁸	P. Christensen	Jacob Bradshaw	N/A	ESPN+	385	14–16	6–14
April 28	Central Arkansas		Mike D. Lane Field	L 3–6	Cole Macrae	Anthony Pingeton	H. Alexander	ESPN+	393	14–17	6–15
April 30	at Middle Tennessee		Reese Smith Jr. Field	L 2–9	Dylan Alonso	John Allen Stogner	Justin Lee	ESPN+	796	14–18	6–15

May
Date	Opponent	Rank	Site/stadium	Score	Win	Loss	Save	TV	Attendance	Overall record	ASUN record
May 1	Samford		Mike D. Lane Field	L 10–19	Cole Fryman	Justin Battle	N/A	ESPN+	224	14–19	6–15
May 3	at Queens		Stick Williams Dream Baseball Field	W 11-7	Jacob James	Landry Jurecka	Brycen Parrish	ESPN+	75	15–29	7–15
May 3	at Queens		Stick Williams Dream Baseball Field	W 8–2	Dane Sykes	Carson Magill	N/A	ESPN+	80	16–29	8–15
May 5	at Queens		Stick Williams Dream Baseball Field	L 8–13	Johnny Joseph	Anthony Pingeton	Isaiah Bennett	ESPN+	72	16–30	8–16
May 7	at Samford		Joe Lee Griffin Stadium	L 3–12	Miller Riggins	John Allen Stogner	N/A		133	16–31	8–16
May 10	North Florida		Mike D. Lane Field	L 4–3	Jordan Wimpelberg	Jacob James	Zane Starling		317	16–32	8–17
May 11	North Florida		Mike D. Lane Field	W 4–2	Jacob Bradshaw	Tony Roca	Dane Sykes		741	17–32	9–17
May 12	North Florida		Mike D. Lane Field	Tie 4–4¹³*	N/A	N/A	N/A		367	17–32–1	9–17–1
May 14	at Mississippi State		Dudy Noble Field	L 4–8	Cam Schuelke	Carson Howard	N/A	SECN+	9,349	17–33–1	9–17–1
May 16	at Austin Peay		Raymond C. Hand Park	L 13–2⁷	Jacob Weaver	Jacob James	N/A	ESPN+	783	17–34–1	9–18–1
May 17	at Austin Peay		Raymond C. Hand Park	L 3–8	Josh Howitt	Jacob Bradshaw	N/A	ESPN+	583	17–35–1	9–19–1
May 18	at Austin Peay		Raymond C. Hand Park	W 14–13	Brycen Parrish	Deaton Oak	Jacob James	ESPN+	606	18–35–1	10–19–1

Source:^[8]

* The May 12 game against North Florida ended in a tie at the end of the 13th inning as the game reached the travel curfew for the away team^[9]^[10]

Records broken

Jacob James broke the school's all-time strikeout record in the third to last game of the season against Austin Peay. In the second-inning, James threw career strikeout No. 281 which put him in sole possession of the record. The previous record holder was Chad Boughner, who had 280 career strikeouts at North Alabama.^[11] James would finish the season with 284 career strikeouts.

Postseason honors

Two North Alabama Lions were selected for postseason ASUN honors.^[12]

Player	No.	Position	Class
Third Team All-ASUN
Gehrig Frei	4	3B	Sophomore
Jacob James	10	P	Senior

References

↑ "2024 Baseball Standings". asunsports.org. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
↑ Glovach, David (May 13, 2024). "For UNA, final days of baseball stadium 'bittersweet' but necessary". TimesDaily. Florence. Retrieved October 28, 2024.
↑ "2023 Baseball Schedule". UNA Athletics. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
↑ "2023 Baseball Standings". Atlantic Sun Conference. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
1 2 "Lipscomb Tops ASUN Baseball Preseason Poll". Atlantic Sun Conference. asunsports.org. February 8, 2024. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
↑ "2024 Baseball Roster". UNA Athletics. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
↑ Mitchell, Taylor (March 13, 2024). "UNA moving Atlantic Sun Conference opener to Toyota Field this weekend". WHNT. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
↑ "2024 Baseball Schedule". UNA Athletics. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
↑ Cohan, Max (May 12, 2024). "UNA Baseball ends senior day in historic draw with North Florida, 4-4". waaytv.com. WAAY 31. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
↑ @UNABaseball (May 12, 2024). "Due to a travel curfew for North Florida, today's game has ended in a tie. We are back in action on Tuesday at Mississippi State" (Tweet) – via X (formerly Twitter).
↑ Glovach, David (May 21, 2024). "For James, UNA strikeout record 'definitely earned'". TimesDaily. Florence. Retrieved October 28, 2024.
↑ "2024 Baseball Postseason Honors Announced". Atlantic Sun Conference. asunsports.org. May 20, 2024. Retrieved October 28, 2024.

[1] "2024 Baseball Standings". asunsports.org. Retrieved May 2, 2024.

[2] Glovach, David (May 13, 2024). "For UNA, final days of baseball stadium 'bittersweet' but necessary". TimesDaily. Florence. Retrieved October 28, 2024.

[3] "2023 Baseball Schedule". UNA Athletics. Retrieved March 4, 2024.

[4] "2023 Baseball Standings". Atlantic Sun Conference. Retrieved March 4, 2024.

[preseason_awards-5] 1 2 "Lipscomb Tops ASUN Baseball Preseason Poll". Atlantic Sun Conference. asunsports.org. February 8, 2024. Retrieved May 12, 2024.

[6] "2024 Baseball Roster". UNA Athletics. Retrieved February 20, 2024.

[7] Mitchell, Taylor (March 13, 2024). "UNA moving Atlantic Sun Conference opener to Toyota Field this weekend". WHNT. Retrieved May 2, 2024.

[8] "2024 Baseball Schedule". UNA Athletics. Retrieved March 4, 2024.

[9] Cohan, Max (May 12, 2024). "UNA Baseball ends senior day in historic draw with North Florida, 4-4". waaytv.com. WAAY 31. Retrieved May 14, 2024.

[10] @UNABaseball (May 12, 2024). "Due to a travel curfew for North Florida, today's game has ended in a tie. We are back in action on Tuesday at Mississippi State" (Tweet) – via X (formerly Twitter).

[11] Glovach, David (May 21, 2024). "For James, UNA strikeout record 'definitely earned'". TimesDaily. Florence. Retrieved October 28, 2024.

[postseason_awards-12] "2024 Baseball Postseason Honors Announced". Atlantic Sun Conference. asunsports.org. May 20, 2024. Retrieved October 28, 2024.

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