IRVINE, Calif. – A former All-American and two sophomores from the Concordia University Irvine baseball squad were voted among the best players in the PacWest Conference by the league's coaches.
The talented trio include pitchers
Jake Covey and
Matthew Kaiser as well as shortstop
Isaiah Walz who all had fantastic seasons for the Golden Eagles.
A former All-American on the mound, Covey made First Team All-PacWest for the second straight season. The CUI ace & Preseason All-American went 7-4 with a 3.94 ERA and a team-high 99 strikeouts with just 22 walks in 89.0 innings – which was also the most on the squad by large margin.
Covey sported an insane 4.5-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio with a 1.12 WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched). The Costa Mesa, Calif. native had at least eight strikeouts in 12 of his appearances and racked up double-digit Ks four times, including a career-high 12+ innings pitched in an epic game against Jessup. As a junior, he was voted an All-American by three different organizations – the NCBWA, the D2CCA and ABCA – in addition to being selected as 2024 PacWest & D2CCA Regional Pitcher of the Year.
As a second-year starter and now a Second Team All-PacWest selection,
Isaiah Walz led the CUI offense with a .385 batting avg, .953 OPS and 62 hits. His impressive campaign included two homers, right doubles and 31 RBI, and he finished Top 5 in the PacWest by going 13-for-13 on steals. The Yucaipa, Calif. native was also was Top 3 in the conference with three triples and Top 10 with a team-high 62 hits.
In addition, Walz collected 18 multi-hit games and started all 46 games he appeared in - usually at the top of the lineup – while helping turn 16 double plays with 98 assists and a .906 fielding percentage.
Another sophomore from Los Alamitos, Calif. had a huge impact on the mound for the Green and Gold.
Matthew Kaiser pitched
the first no-hitter in Concordia baseball's NCAA DII era and did so against No. 4 & eventual PacWest champion Westmont this season.
Just like Covey the previous spring, Kaiser represented the Concordia pitching staff as a NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week & PacWest Pitcher of the Week after that career day. The righty from Los Alamitos High School ultimately went 6-3 with a 3.47 ERA and 67 strikeouts in 59.2 innings. He also pitched to contact and sported a 2-to-1 K/BB ratio as a sophomore in career-high 11 starts.
CUI stayed in the chase for the final PacWest Tournament spot until the final day of the regular season and closed the 2025 campaign with 22 victories. Covey and Kaiser combined for 13 of those wins on the mound.
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