Baseball 5/21/2026 10:08:00 AM Kyle Jones

Coach Kurich Named SLIAC Coach of the Year, Armbrust Selected As Freshman of the Year, 12 Gorloks Earn All-Conference Honors

BELLEVILLE, Ill. - The St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) has released the end of the season awards for baseball. WU's Head Coach Bill Kurich was named the SLIAC Coach of the Year. In addition, Colt Armbrust was named the SLIAC Freshman of the Year. In total, 12 Gorloks earned an All-Conference selection; three first teams, seven second, and two third teams.

In his 20th season as the leader at Webster, Head Coach Bill Kurich was named the SLIAC Coach of the Year where he led the Gorloks to a 21-3 conference record which are most wins by a SLIAC team since the 2021 season, won their second consecutive SLIAC Regular Season title and 18th of the past 19 seasons. With this selection, it marks his 12th Coach of the Year honor as the leader of the Gorloks.

Coach Kurich led the team to a conference-best .351 batting average, 299 hits, 40 home runs, 479 total bases, and a slugging percentage of .562. In addition, he led the pitching staff to a conference-best 4.01 ERA and .238 opponent batting average.

Armbrust, a native of Wheaton, Illinois earned the SLIAC Freshman of the Year selection with a 5-0 record and had six top-10 finishes in the conference. He tied for first with those five wins and finished fourth with an opponent batting average of .203. In addition, he finished fifth with an ERA of 2.79 and sixth 12 earned runs. Lastly, he tied for seventh with 13 looking strikeouts and ninth with 36 total strikeouts. With this Freshman of the Year selection, Armbrust is the 10th Gorlok in SLIAC history to receive this honor, first since 2024.

The Gorloks earned three First Team honors, which included pitchers Armbrust and Ryan Greifelt and outfielder James Theodore. Greifelt finished the season with seven top-10 statistical categories that included tied for first with five wins. He finished second with 49 strikeouts and third with 17 looking strikeouts. Also, he finished third with an opponent batting average of .201 and fourth with 15 runs allowed. Lastly, he finished fifth with 43.2 innings pitched and sixth with an ERA of 2.89.

Theodore, a native of San Marcos, California earned a First Team All-Conference selection where he secured four top-10 rankings in the conference. The junior outfielder led the conference with a .455 batting average and 46 hits. In addition, he finished tied for second with 20 stolen bases (20-of-23), tied for fifth with 35 runs, and sixth with an on-base percentage of .509. He recorded an OPS of 1.054 and slugged for .545. Lastly, he tallied 55 total bases and 17 RBI's.

The Gorloks earned seven Second Team selections which included pitcher Wes Carter and Carter Hunt, catcher Dalton Groves, infielders Talan Hutchings and Ethan Wielt, outfielder Adam Moser, and Designated Hitter Nick Wrubluski.

Carter, a junior right-handed reliever from Hoover, Alabama recorded a 4-0 record over 31.0 innings pitched. He finished first in the conference with a .203 ERA and tied for first with a league-low eight runs allowed. In addition, he finished fifth with an opponent batting average of .230 and tied for sixth with four wins. Lastly, he finished seventh with 13 looking strikeouts and recorded a total of 24 strikeouts. With this Second Team All-Conference, it marks his first career All-Conference selection.

Hunt, a native of San Diego, California had a great season on the mound where he recorded a 4-0 record over 40.0 innings pitched. He finished with six top-10 finishes in the conference that included tied for first with 18 looking strikeouts and tied for fifth with 45 strikeouts. In addition, he finished sixth with an opponent batting average of .238 and tied for sixth with four wins. Lastly, he finished eighth with an ERA of 3.15 and ninth with 40.0 innings pitched. With this selection, Hunt caps off his SLIAC career with his third All-Conference selection.

Groves, a catcher from Burns, Tennessee had a fantastic season at the plate that included a slash-line of 1.013 OPS, slugged for .536, and had an on-base percentage of .477 in conference play. He finished tied for first in the league with five sacrifice flyouts, tied for fourth with nine doubles and tied for seventh with a batting average of .393. In addition, he recorded 33 hits, 25 RBI's, 22 runs, one homerun, and only two strikeouts. Lastly, he recorded 45 total bases that included 16 walks. With this selection, it marks his second career All-Conference honor.

Hutchings, a first-year infielder from Brighton, Colorado made his presence known as he recorded an OPS of 1.050, slugged for .598, and had an on-base percentage of .452 in 24 conference games. He finished 16th in the league with a batting average of .378. In addition, he recorded 31 hits that included seven doubles, three home runs, and one triple. Lastly, he recorded 24 runs, 16 RBI's, and 49 total bases. With this selection, this is first career All-Conference honor.

Wielt, a native of Mount Vernon, Illinois earned a Second Team All-Conference selection by recording an OPS of 1.074, slugged for .574, and had an on-base percentage of .500. He finished fifth in the conference with a batting average of .407 and tied for eighth with an on-base percentage of .500. In addition, he recorded 22 hits, 16 runs, eight RBI's and three home runs. Lastly, he tallied 31 total bases that included 10 walks. With this selection, it marks his first career All-Conference honor.

Moser, a native of Lafayette, Colorado had a great first season in the Navy and Gold and finished with seven top-10 statistical rankings in the conference where he tied for first with eight home runs. In addition, he finished second with 37 runs, second with 37 RBI's, and tied for second with 20 stolen bases (20-of-25). He finished third with a slugging percentage of .736 and an OPS of 1.240 and seventh with an on-base percentage of .504. Lastly, he recorded 35 hits with six doubles and 67 total bases that included nine walks. With this selection, it marks his first career All-Conference honor.

Wrubluski, a senior Designated Hitter from Jacksonville, Florida finished with five top-10 conference rankings that included tied for first with eight homers. In addition, he finished second in the conference with a .422 batting average, second with a slugging percentage of .828, and second with an OPS of 1.353. He finished third with an on-base percentage of .525. In addition, he recorded 27 hits, 24 RBI's, and 14 runs. Lastly, he tallied 53 total bases that included nine walks. With this selection, it marks his first career All-Conference honor.

The Gorloks earned two Third Team selections which included infielders Reid Hietpas and Braedan Trissell.

Hietpas, a native of Little Chute, Wisconsin earned a Third Team All-Conference selection where he finished tied for second in the conference with seven homers and 10th with a slugging percentage of .629. In addition, he recorded a slash-line of a .315 batting average, an OPS of 1.044, and had an on-base percentage of .415. He recorded 28 hits (seven doubles), 26 runs, 25 RBI's, and 56 total bases. With this selection, it marks the first of his career.

Trissell, a first-year infielder from Pottsboro, Texas earned a Third Team All-Conference selection where he recorded a batting average of .318, an OPS of .950, slugged for .545, and had an on-base percentage of .405. In addition, he recorded 21 hits (three homers), 22 runs, and 20 RBI's. Lastly, he recorded 36 total bases and went nine-of-12 on stolen bases. With this selection, it marks his first career All-Conference honor.

The All-Sportsmanship Team includes one individual from each school where coaches and student-athletes select one member of their team who, throughout the season, best displays the ideals of sportsmanship that include fairness, civility, honesty, unselfishness, respect, and responsibility. This year's selection was Ryan Hartz.

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