RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Lycoming College baseball coach Rick Oliveri was named the 2023 MAC Freedom Coach of the Year in his first year at the helm with the Warriors.

First-year baseball coach Rick Oliveri was named the 2023 MAC Freedom Coach of the Year after leading the Lycoming College baseball team through its first season in 52 years to highlight three honorees from Lycoming on the All-MAC Freedom teams, with junior shortstop Braden Campell earning second-team honors and sophomore Jake Schilling taking honorable mention plaudits.

Prior to their matchup against Greensboro College on Feb. 18, the last time the Warriors had taken to the field was May 1971, giving Oliveri the daunting task of building a brand-new program. The Buffalo, N.Y., native led the 2023 Warriors to a 12-23 overall record and a 9-14 conference record, both of which set new high-water marks for the program in wins, as he built a team of 34 players, including 32 new to Lycoming College.

Oliveri’s first win with the Warriors came two days after the season debut on Feb. 20, as they toppled Greensboro, 16-3. The Warriors’ first home game was a 9-5 MAC Freedom victory over DeSales University, one of three wins for the Warriors this year against teams that made the MAC Freedom Championship at Bowman Field. On April 2, the Warriors swept Delaware Valley University in a MAC Freedom doubleheader, 12-7 and 6-4, the team’s first sweep since downing Juniata College on May 16, 1970. The Warriors, voted to finish ninth in a preseason coaches poll, finished tied for sixth in the league standings, as the team stayed in the hunt for a conference championship slot until the second-to-last day of the regular season.

Earning his first all-conference honors, Campbell finished second on the team with 23 runs, 38 hits, nine doubles, two triples, two home runs, 22 RBI and a .487 slugging average. Campbell’s first home run came in the second game of a doubleheader against Wilkes University on April 4, homering over the left field wall in the bottom of the fourth. His second came in the April 23 matchup with Stevens Institute of Technology. Leading the Warriors with 72 assists, Campbell ranked 10th in the conference in the category.

An honorable mention honoree, Schilling finished with 16 runs, 34 hits, nine doubles, a triple, a home run, 21 RBI, and a .436 slugging average. On the mound, Schilling posted a 2.93 ERA and he compiled four saves. Schilling’s homer came during a 7-4 victory over Wilkes on March 28. Schilling won the first game of an April 6 doubleheader with King’s, as he hit a walk-off single to right field in the bottom of the eighth to lift the Warriors to a 5-4 victory.

Campbell and Schilling are the Warriors first all-conference honorees since Paul Whitehouse was a second-team All-MAC College Division selection in 1969.

The Warriors finished 12-23 overall and 9-14 in the MAC Freedom in their first season in 52 years.