St. Cloud State Baseball Opens 2026 Season at Missouri Western

Friday, February 13

St. Joseph, Mo.

2:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

Missouri Western

St. Cloud State Baseball Opens 2026 Season at Missouri Western

2/12/2026 2:36:00 PM | Baseball

Huskies open with three-game series at Missouri Western in St. Joseph, Mo.

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – St. Cloud State Baseball (0-0, 0-0 NSIC) will open the 2026 season with a three-game series at Missouri Western (3-4, 0-0 MIAA) at Griffon Baseball Field in St. Joseph, Mo. The two teams will play single games on Feb. 13-15.

FOLLOW THE HUSKIES
Game 1 vs. Missouri Western – Friday, Feb. 13 – 2:00 p.m. CT – St. Joseph, Mo. – Griffon Baseball Field – Live Stream ($) – Live Stats
Game 2 vs. Missouri Western – Saturday, Feb. 14 – 1:00 p.m. CT – St. Joseph, Mo. – Griffon Baseball Field – Live Stream ($) – Live Stats
Game 3 vs. Missouri Western – Sunday, Feb. 15 – 12:00 p.m. CT – St. Joseph, Mo. – Griffon Baseball Field – Live Stream ($) – Live Stats

HUSKIES PICKED THIRD IN NSIC PRESEASON POLL

St. Cloud State Baseball was selected to finish third in the 2026 NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll with redshirt senior Liam Moreno named the player to watch and senior Bryce Brassfield named the pitcher to watch.

In 2025, the Huskies went 28-26 and finished fifth in the NSIC standing, marking the 15^th consecutive season the Huskies have finished in the NSIC's top-five and 16^th time in 17 seasons under head coach Pat Dolan (no conference season in 2020 due to pandemic). Four Huskies earned All-NSIC honors, including returners Moreno and junior Wilmis Castro, who earned first and second team honors, respectively. The Huskies relied on the long ball all season long, launching 67 home runs, a mark which ranked second as a team in program history and only trailed the 96 home runs hit in 2016.

"Fortunately, all but one of our returning seniors returned versus entering the transfer portal and we signed one of our best and oldest recruiting classes ever," said Dolan. "We believe we should have the quality upperclassmen depth both on the mound and on the field to be competitive in the NSIC."

Moreno had a standout first season playing for the Huskies last season, earning first team honors while starting 53 games and playing in all 54. At the plate, Moreno hit .350 with a .994 OPS, eight home runs, 33 RBI, 15 doubles, 60 runs and 20 stolen bases. He led the Huskies in runs and stolen bases, while ranking among the NSIC's top-10 in many offensive categories. In the field, Moreno produced a .982 fielding percentage with 35 putouts and 75 assists while committing just two errors all season.

"Liam is a returning NSIC All-Conference player that has played NCAA DI baseball and three years with the Madison Mallards in the NWL," said Dolan. "He was elected a captain for his senior year and will be a leader for our team this season."

Brassfield made 13 starts in his first season in the black and red, producing a 4-3 record with 5.60 ERA, 1.60 WHIP and 65 strikeouts in 66.1 innings pitched. He recorded five or more strikeouts in six of his 13 starts, including his last three, and pitched six or more innings five times. He made arguably his best start of the season against Minot State on April 26, pitching six innings with one earned run and eight strikeouts while earning the win.

"Bryce is one of our top returning pitchers and is a two-year captain," said Dolan. "We are looking forward to him being a reliable arm on the mound for us this season."

NEW SEASON, NEW FACES

St. Cloud State will have 19 newcomers on the roster this season with 12 transfers and seven freshmen. Below is a look at all the newcomers.

Transfers (previous school)

Dylan Debilzen (Minnesota Crookston)
Hayden Frank (St. Cloud Community & Technical College)
Ethan Henry (Oakland)
Nick Ibrahim (SIUE & Century College)
Parker Lewin (Minnesota)
Seth Luther (Century College)
Grant Marshall (Rock Valley JC)
Josh McGuin (Dodge City CC & South Dakota State)
Eamonn Mulhern (Milwaukee & Madison College)
Dawson Schmidt (St. Norbert)
Logan Smith (Southern Nevada)
Seth Tierney (Century College)

Freshmen (Hometown)

Trevor Brouette (Pardeeville, Wis.)
Ryan Cahoon (Northfield, Minn.)
Parker Erickson (East Grand Forks, Minn.)
Johan Ferreira (Santo Domingo, Dominic Republic)
Karl Schiebe (Golden Valley, Minn.)
Brayden Simones (Sartell, Minn.)
Brayden Steinbecker (Manitowoc, Wis.)

COACHING STAFF ADDITIONS

Head coach Pat Dolan added Ryan Chmielewski, Cole Fuecker, David Kroger and Derek Shoen to his coaching staff for the 2026 season. Fuecker, Kroger and Shoen will be assistant coaches, while Chmielewski will serve as a volunteer assistant coach and graduate assistant for the Kinesiology department. Kroger and Chimielewski will work with the pitching staff while Fuecker and Shoen will work with the SCSU hitters and position players.

"We are extremely excited about the additions to our coaching staff," said Dolan. "Coach Kroger knows our system after playing an integral role as a former Husky and he's developed into a great coach, which is shown from his team to advancing to numerous Juco World Series. Ryan, Cole and Derek are all former big-time contributors in the NSIC and will be great additions to our team. And we are also very fortunate to have Coach Moone back for another year. He's one of the hardest working and most loyal coaches I've had in my 30 years."

Chmielewski, an all-state and conference player of the year award winner at Foley High School, was a four-year starting pitcher at NSIC foe Southwest Minnesota State (2022-25), where he logged over 232 innings and earned 2025 All-NSIC Second Team honors for the Mustangs. The crafty lefty ended his collegiate career ranked second all-time in program history in games started (42), third in innings pitched (232.1) and third in strikeouts (219). In addition to his all-conference honors in his senior campaign, Chmielewski also earned 2023 NSIC All-Defensive Team and ABCA Central Region All-Defensive Team honors. Chmielewski played two seasons in the Northwoods League for the Duluth Huskies (2022) and St. Cloud Rox (2023), helping both teams capture Great Plains championships. Chmielewski helped coach the Foley Legion baseball team and currently is a staff member for the Dolan's Starz of Tomorrow camps and clinics. He graduated SMSU with a bachelor's degree in Exercise Science, and a minor in Coaching, and was a three-time Academic All-NSIC honoree (2023-25).

Fuecker, a 2019 Sauk Rapids-Rice graduate who earned all-conference and all-state honors, returns to the Granite City after a successful six-year collegiate career at three institutions. Fuecker attended North Iowa Area Community College (2019-22) and Mid-America Christian University (2023) before finishing at NSIC foe Winona State (2024-25). Fuecker slashed .351/.426/.593 for a 1.019 in 99 games for the Warriors, launching 18 home runs and 82 RBI while earning 2024 All-NSIC Second Team honors. In July 2025, Fuecker made his professional debut with the Sioux Falls Canaries of the America Association.

Kroger, a former Husky student-athlete, returns to his alma mater after a six-year coaching stint with St. Cloud Technical & Community College (2020-25), including the past four seasons as the head coach. The Cyclones won four regional championships with Kroger on staff (one as assistant, three as head coach), which qualified the team for the NJCAA Division III World Series where they finished fourth, fifth, fifth and seventh. Kroger posted a 112-58 record at the helm of the Cyclones, was named the 2025 MCAC Central Division Coach of the Year and earned the Region 13 Coach of the Year three times (2022-24). Under his guidance, four Cyclones earned All-America honors, in addition to numerous All-MCAC and All-MCAC Central Division honorees. Prior to his time at SCTCC, Kroger served as the pitching coordinator for the Minnesota MASH Baseball Club. He spent two seasons on the mound for the Huskies (2016-17), helping lead SCSU to two NCAA Central Region Tournament berths and one NSIC Tournament Championship (2016). He made 36 appearances with one start for the Huskies, earning three wins and one save. The righthanded pitcher worked 49.0 innings in an SCSU uniform, striking out 55 batters. He operated as the team's top setup man both seasons, posting his best campaign in 2016 with a 4.29 ERA over 18 appearances and 21.0 innings of work, holding hitters to a .247 average and a .693 OPS while striking out batters at a 27.8% clip.

Shoen, a native of Truman, Minn., returns to the NSIC after a record-setting collegiate career at UMary (2021-23) and a stint as a hitting coach in the Northwoods League. For the Marauders, Shoen earned All-NSIC honors (2021-23) in each of his three seasons, including first team selections in 2021 and 2022. Shoen led the NSIC in home runs in 2022 with 11 in league play and set UMary single-season program records for hits (72 in 2023) and home runs (14 in 2022). Prior to UMary, Shoen played two seasons at Iowa Western Community College (2019-20) where he helped the team earn a runner-up finish at the 2019 Juco World Series. After completing his degree in Sport and Leisure Management with a minor in Business Administration from UMary, Shoen transitioned to professional independent baseball where he played for teams in the Pecos League, Frontier League, Pioneer League, and the United Shore Professional Baseball League (USPBL). Following his playing career, Shoen turned to coaching, offering private hitting instruction at Becker Baseball. In the summer of 2025, Shoen served as the hitting coach for the Willmar Stingers of the Northwoods League.

For all the latest on St. Cloud State Baseball, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.