Coach Mike Deegan’s 13th season at Denison in 2025 was historic. Big Red baseball had the fourth-highest winning percentage in the country with a 41-7 record and a sixth straight North Coast Atlantic Conference championship. The program made its first-ever trip to the College World Series, flooring opponents in the regional and super regional rounds before losing to the eventual tournament champions.
This season has been just as impressive, if not more so.
In 2026, the Big Red have won 44 consecutive games, tying the NCAA Division III record, with a chance to break it when they return to the CWS on May 29 against No. 8 East Texas Baptist.
Winning 44 games in a row of anything, let alone baseball, is a challenge. When you unpack the events that led to the winning streak, the feat is even more baffling.
No game embodied the Denison season more than its regional final against Kalamazoo on May 17. The Big Red could afford to lose, having not yet lost in the double-elimination bracket, and were down 12-8 in the bottom of the ninth inning. It seemed probable that the two teams would suit up for a winner-take-all game that afternoon.
Denison had other plans, scoring three runs on one hit, two hit-by-pitches, a walk and two sacrifice flies. Then, the Big Red pinch-hit Tristan Kerr, who had started four games this season, and he hit a two-RBI two-out single to walk it off. The streak lived on.
During this incredible stretch, the Big Red have won eight games by one run. Three of those one-run wins came during the NCAA regional stage, all walk-offs.
This success is also improbable given the fact that starting pitcher Andrew Montero, an Upper Arlington graduate, had an arm issue before he was set to take the mound in the second regional game. Two starts before, Montero set a program single-game record with 16 strikeouts in a seven-inning shutout against Ohio Wesleyan.
However, Deegan and the coaching staff had to alter their rotation plan 30 minutes before first pitch, opting for starter Robbie Lee. Denison won 4-3 with a walk-off single from Jack Rollo.
Losing Montero, who has since been shut down for the rest of the season, is one of many challenges Denison overcame during the streak. The Big Red felt targeted after their 2025 CWS run, naturally getting poached by Division I programs via the transfer portal. Sam Larson, who had a team-best 1.91 ERA in 2025, transferred to Tulane and became a staple in the Green Wave’s rotation.
Down 4 in the 9th… Not Just Yet!!@DenisonSports@NCAC@NCAADIIIpic.twitter.com/VXIWr1ThAI
— Denison Baseball (@DU_Baseball) May 17, 2026
Another standout for the 2025 Big Red, starter Peter Lemke, left for Duke. Even Lee, a fixture of the current Denison rotation, is transferring to Virginia for his fifth year of eligibility.
“This was our first year really experiencing it,” Deegan said. “We’ve had a few transfers, not so much transfer portal-type kids.”
Losing Denison’s 2025 senior class was also a big blow. Current players referred to that class as a staple. Losses included Eric Colaco, called “Mr. Denison baseball” by utility player Jack Lutte. Colaco started all 48 games in 2025, hitting .355 and stealing 31 bases.
More bad news before the start of the 2026 campaign: Starting shortstop Alex Avila tore multiple knee ligaments, costing him his senior season. On paper, the roster looked weaker.
Deegan wasted no time. He responded to Avila’s injury by bringing in Kelly Crittenberger, a junior infielder transfer from Northwestern. Though he didn’t see action with the Wildcats, Crittenberger fit right in with Denison, starting in 43 games while hitting .373 with a .963 OPS.
Still, most of the members of the Big Red roster were returning players. Denison embarked on its season in Greensboro, North Carolina, against Christopher Newport University, winning 13-4. In their second game of the season Feb. 21, the Big Red lost 4-1 to Salisbury.
They haven’t lost a game or scored fewer than two runs since.
“Maybe it’s just a little bit more experience,” Deegan said. “Maybe it’s just a little more time under pressure. Maybe it’s a little more joy with each other. It’s things like that. I wouldn’t say we’re more talented this year. … In baseball, we like to talk more about evidence-based proof on things. I may not have that, but I would say there’s probably a little more spirit in the air that you can’t quite describe.”
Deegan’s returning players can feel that magic. Take NCAC pitcher of the Year Will Rettig, for example. Rettig had an impressive junior season in 2025, going 6-1 with a 2.69 ERA in eight starts and 15 appearances. He took a jump this season, becoming the conference pitcher of the year with an 11-0 record and 2.55 ERA.
He credited much of his growth to Denison graduates such as Nick Falter, saying they led by example. Falter, an Olentangy Liberty grad, signed a minor league deal with the San Diego Padres after graduating. He was promoted to the Padres’ Single-A affiliate in April 2026.
“I kind of knew what the expectation would be of me, and I tried to embrace that,” Rettig said. “We’re all so different in how we pitch, but just trying to be someone that’s a leader. I feel like it’s kind of taken pressure off of every individual game, and it’s just ‘How can I help the team win?’ “
Rettig, the expected starter for the Big Red’s first CWS game, said he’s enjoyed baseball this year more than ever. He called his role as a starting pitcher one of the “easiest” of anyone on the team due to Denison’s run support and veteran defense, as well as scouting prep from the coaching staff.
After Montero went down, Rettig knew extending starts would be key to returning to the CWS. In the first game of the NCAA Super Regional against Piedmont on May 22, Rettig allowed three runs in the fourth inning. The Denison offense countered by scoring three runs over the next two innings, and Rettig finished seven innings without allowing any more runs.
In the eighth inning, the Denison offense scored six runs en route to a 9-3 win. The Big Red played Piedmont the following day and won 8-7 to clinch their CWS berth.
TICKET PUNCHED!!#NotJustYetpic.twitter.com/uhGwXYmAeT
— Denison Baseball (@DU_Baseball) May 24, 2026
Along with stellar pitching, the Big Red have four of the top 10 hitters in the NCAC by OPS, led by Lutte with a 1.367 OPS and .439 batting average. Deegan called Lutte the best pure hitter he’s seen in Division III.
The 2026 conference player of the year, Lutte believes that the jitters of playing in the CWS for the first time are gone. The Big Red are the No. 1 seed and also get the benefit of playing the CWS in Eastlake, Ohio, for the second year in a row.
“The culture of this team has really shown through,” Lutte said. “We’re a team built on grit.”
Lutte and Rettig admire the culture Deegan has created. Players stay attached to the program. Though unable to play shortstop, Avila became the team’s first base coach. After Duke’s season ended, Lemke returned to watch his former teammates play in the Super Regional.
“I would choose to play for [Deegan] again and again a million times over,” said Rettig.
Neither the team nor Deegan feels the pressure of the win streak.
“I’m just really looking forward to our practice today,” said Deegan. “I know it’s cliche, but that’s just how my mind works. … I think if you can compartmentalize it, it’s not as daunting.”
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Denison baseball rolls into College World Series on 44-game win streak