2004 UIC FLAMES 2004 UIC Flames Baseball Coaching Staff

HEADCOACH Gilliam (Arizona Diamondbacks, 2002) and Kevin Ryan (San Di- ego Padres, 2002). MIKE In reviving the UIC program, Dee and his staff have snatched up many of the top local and regional recruits, improved the Flames’ DEE strength of schedule and expanded the season to three and a half Sixth Season months to better prepare for the regular-season and the league tournament. Record: 161-118 (.577) In order to strengthen the Flames’ schedule, Dee has looked no further than the Big Ten. Over the past three seasons, UIC has compiled a record of 11-4 against Big Ten opponents, including a 3-2 upset over then No. 23 Ohio State in 2002. This season, Dee has scheduled a three-game series against Michigan along with It’s not how you start; it’s how you finish. single contest against Northwestern. Despite opening the season with a mark of 2-9, University Other opponents in 2003 include 2001 College World Se- of at Head Baseball Coach Mike Dee and his ries champion and 2003 World Series participant, Miami (Fla.) troops bounced back to win 37 out of their next 46 contests, along with 2003 NCAA Regional participant, Arkansas. including the Horizon League Regular-Season and Tournament Dee, hired on July 30, 1998, came to UIC after serving as an titles, on their way to their first-ever NCAA Regional berth assistant coach at the University of Minnesota for 11 years. As against World Series runner-up Stanford. the Golden Gophers pitching coach, Dee had his staff finish first Because of his team’s accomplishments, Dee captured Ho- or second in the Big Ten for team ERA in seven of his last nine rizon League Coach of the Year for the fourth time in the last years. five years as the Flames successfully defended their regular- During his 11 season title with a school-record 15 conference victories. years at Minnesota, The Flames also captured Horizon League Player of the his Golden Gophers Year and Newcomer of the Year honors at the post-season ban- compiled a 405- quet. 254 (.615) record Senior outfielder Chuck Peters was named the Horizon while registering a League Player of the Year, as the Orland Park, Ill., native, led 190-101 (.653) UIC with 11 homers and 56 RBI to go along with a robust .343 ledger against Big batting average. Following the season, Peters was named an Ten foes. In 1997, honorable mention All-American by collegebaseballinsider.com. Dee’s hurlers set a Freshman pitcher Ryan Martin was named the Horizon school record as League Newcomer of the Year, garnering a record of 7-1 in his they fanned 406 nd rookie campaign, with an ERA of 2.35, which was good for 32 batters in 444.1 in- in the country. Martin was also named a ‘Louisville Slugger’ nings of work led by Freshman All-American. 110 strikeouts by UIC also made some noise in the national stats as they held Mike Diebolt, a the seventh-best earned run average in the country at 3.19, 1997 draft pick of th along with the 11 -best batting average of .329. It marked the the Detroit Tigers. second season in a row that the Flames have ranked in the top- Dee’s 1993 squad 10 in the nation for ERA. set new marks for Dee’s pitching staff has finished first or second in the Hori- saves (15) and wins zon League for team ERA in all five years that he has been on (43-18) the west side of Chicago. Minnesota The Flames also set or tied other school-records with 39 captured the Big Ten Tournament title four times during Dee’s victories, hits (630), batting average (.329), fewest runs al- tenure and earned the regular season championship twice, in lowed (219), fewest earned runs allowed (167) and ERA 1988 and 1992. The Golden Gophers qualified for the NCAA (3.19). Tournament seven times while Dee was an assistant, including as Following the campaign, senior catcher Kevin Nelson signed recently as 1998. Under his tutelage, 38 of Dee’s former play- a free-agent contract with the New York Yankees, marking the ers, including 25 pitchers, have gone on to professional careers. third consecutive year that the Flames have sent a player to the Three of those hurlers - Denny Neagle, Kerry Ligtenberg and Jim professional ranks, following Steve Carlson (New York Yan- Brower - were on Major League rosters in 2003. kees, 2001), (Detroit Tigers, 2002), Wes In addition to his coaching duties with the Golden Gophers,

2003 Horizon League Champions * 2003 NCAA Regionals 2004 UIC FLAMES BASEBALL 2004 UIC Flames Baseball Coaching Staff

Dee also served as the Chief Executive Officer for the Minnesota ASSISTANT COACH/ Baseball Instructional School in Minneapolis. In that position, he RECRUITING handled all staff hiring/training, marketing and scheduling and all business accounting. Under Dee’s direction, the business grew COORDINATOR into one of the largest baseball camps in the United States. A 17-year Chicago native, Dee was an all-state selection as SEAN a high school junior at Benet Academy in Lisle, Ill., before finish- MCDERMOTT ing his prep career at Aquinas High School in , Wis. where he garnered all-state honors. Dee attended the Univer- Sixth Season sity of Wisconsin-LaCrosse where he was a three-time Lincoln Memorial (1993) letterwinner and an NAIA All-America selection his junior and senior seasons. As a senior, in 1979, he helped lead the Indians to a fourth-place finish at the NAIA College World Series. Returning for his sixth season with the Flames baseball pro- Following his collegiate career, Dee played one season in the gram is Sean McDermott, who serves as the team’s recruiting Milwaukee Brewers organization before entering the coaching coordinator in addition to working with UIC’s defense. ranks. He returned to Aquinas High School and, as head coach As the chief recruiter for the Flames, McDermott has been for six years, had his squad’s compile a 100-26 record over this instrumental in bringing the top-notch recruits that have played a period. Dee led Aquinas to six straight state tournament appear- big part in resuscitating the Flames program so quickly to produce ances and won the Wisconsin state title four consecutive years 110 wins over the last three seasons including two Horizon League (1984-87). Following the 1987 season, Dee was named the regular-season titles and Wisconsin State High School Coach of the Year. The following its first-ever berth in the season, Dee joined the Golden Gophers coaching staff. NCAA Regionals. In addition to coaching, Dee has also served as a featured McDermott joined clinician at over 100 clinics nationwide, including the National the Flames in 1998 af- Baseball Convention in 1991 and 2001. ter serving three years as head baseball coach at Viterbo College in LaCrosse, Wis. During Mike Dee’s Career Coaching Record his stint with the V- 1999 18-30 .375 Hawks, the squad set a 2000 33-26 .559 single season record for 2001 32-28 .533 wins with 32 victories in 1997 and then made 2002 39-16 .709 their first-ever appear- 2003 39-18 .684 ance in the NAIA Re- Totals 161-118 .577 gional Tournament in 1998. McDermott, who handled recruiting, scheduling, fund raising, academic advising and the development of a new outdoor athletic complex at Viterbo, left the V-Hawks pro- gram with a three-year record of 74-72. Prior to his position at Viterbo College, McDermott served as an assistant coach/recruiting coordinator at Princeton University for two seasons. Additionally, he was the head baseball coach at J. Frank White Academy and a graduate assistant coach at Lincoln Memorial University, both located in Harrogate, Tenn. McDermott began his collegiate playing career as a second baseman at Indian Hills Community College in Centerville, Iowa before transferring to Lincoln Memorial University where he played shortstop for two seasons. McDermott, a 1993 graduate of Lincoln Memorial Univer- sity, is married to Lois and they two sons, Jack and Joe.

2003 Horizon League Champions * 2003 NCAA Regionals 2004 UIC FLAMES BASEBALL 2004 UIC Flames Baseball Coaching Staff

ASSISTANT VOLUNTEER COACH ASSISTANT COACH SCOTT MIKE STAHOVIAK NALL Third Season First Season Creighton (1991) Northwestern (2001)

Former big-leaguer Scott Stahoviak, who is entering his third Nall, a former hurler for both UIC and Northwestern, joins season, continues to make his presence felt upon the University of the staff as a volunteer assistant after spending last season as the Illinois at Chicago baseball squad as the Flames turned in another pitching coach for Valparaiso. Prior to his stint with the Crusaders, record-breaking performance on their way to their first-ever NCAA Nall played in the Philadelphia Phillies minor league system after Regional berth in 2003. being selected in the 28th round of the 2001 draft. UIC set school-records in both hits (630) and batting aver- While working for Valparaiso, Nall helped the Crusaders im- age (.329) during the 2003 prove their win total by eight, ERA by 1.77 runs, strikeout-to-walk campaign. The Flames’ .329 ratio by 1/3rd and opponents batting average by 46 points. Nall batting average was also good was also instrumental in the success of 2003 Mid-Continent Con- for 11th in the country. ference Co-Pitcher of the Year, Tom Starck. A first round draft pick of “Having another coach to work with the pitchers is truly a the Minnesota Twins in 1991, unique situation,” UIC Head Coach Mike Dee said. “Mike’s expe- Stahoviak spent 10 seasons rience as a player in the Big Ten, as well as professional baseball, playing professional baseball, is a huge asset for our athletes.” including three in the Major Leagues as a member of both the Twins and the Chicago ADMINISTRATIVE Cubs. His best year in the ma- jors came in 1996 with the ASSISTANT Twins as he batted .284 with 13 home runs and 61 RBI. NICK Stahoviak, a former first BRIDICH and third baseman, played his college ball at Creighton University for Jim Hendry, now the gen- First Season eral manager of the , and still ranks among the top Butler (2003) five in several career categories. Stahoviak’s .418 career batting average is first in the Bluejays record book while he’s tied for first with 63 doubles, ranks second for hits with 282 and is fifth with 200 runs scored. Bridich, a former standout for Horizon League rival Butler, A freshman All-American in 1989, Stahoviak’s most impres- joins the staff as an administrative assistant after spending last sive season with the Bluejays came during his junior season in year as an assistant varsity coach for Pike High School in India- 1991 as he led Creighton to its only College World Series appear- napolis, Ind. ance. Stahoviak batted .449 with 87 runs scored and 120 hits, While at Butler, Bridich was a three-year Jostens Scholar which are still both single season records, while driving in 74 runs. Athlete and helped the Bulldogs to a NCAA Regional berth in Following the campaign, he was named the Missouri Valley Con- 2000. ference Player of the Year, a First Team All-American and the Bridich also served the last four year as the head freshman American Baseball Coaches Association Player of the Year. and assistant varsity coach for Marquette H.S. in Milwaukee, Wis. Stahoviak has also worked extensively as a hitting instructor, “Nick is a young coach who will be exposed to new areas that giving both private and group lessons. He currently resides in he doesn’t have experience in,” UIC Head Coach Mike Dee said. Mundelein, Ill., with his wife, Susan and children Michael (9) and “He comes from a solid coaching background, because his Dad is Emily (5). one of the top coaches in the state of Wisconsin and I think Nick will be one as well.”

2003 Horizon League Champions * 2003 NCAA Regionals 2004 UIC FLAMES BASEBALL 2004 UIC Flames Baseball Support Staff

ATHLETIC TEAM TRAINER PSYCHOLOGIST ANDREA GLORIA RUDSER BALAGUE Fourth Season Sixth Season North Dakota (1991)

In her fourth season with the UIC baseball program and fifth In her sixth season working with the UIC baseball program at UIC is assistant athletic trainer Andrea Rudser. is team psychologist Dr. Gloria Balague. A professor in UIC’s A native of Minot, North Dakota, Rudser previously worked Psychology Department, Balague meets with the squad on a weekly as a graduate assistant trainer at the University of Minnesota, basis as well as individually as requested by the players. where she served as head trainer for the baseball and golf pro- Balague started her professional career in her native grams. Barcelona, Spain, working with elite athletes and teams at the Rudser, who has worked with the United States Women’s National Sports Research Center and teaching psychology at the Bobsledding Team in preparation for numerous international com- College of Physical Education. petitions, received her master’s of arts in kinesiology from the In 1980, Balague came to Chicago where she obtained her University of Minnesota. As an undergraduate, she earned a double doctorate in clinical/social psychology at UIC. Currently a clinical major in athletic training and dietetics from the University of North assistant professor in the Psychology Department, Balague’s main Dakota. While at UND, Rudser was also a Division II National research interest is in the area of achievement motivation and Champion in the 100- and 200-yard butterfly as a member of the she teaches both undergraduate and graduate level courses in Fighting Sioux swimming program. the department at UIC. Balague has continued her involvement with elite athletes, consulting with several national teams, including the USA Track and Field, USA Gymnastics and USA Field Hockey teams. As a team sport psychologist, Balague has also accompanied the USA Track and Field team to the 1992 Olympics and the USA Rhyth- mic Gymnastics team to the 1996 Olympics.

2003 Horizon League Champions * 2003 NCAA Regionals