When Drake University launched its athletics program in 1893, baseball was one of the three sports offered. However, when current seniors and longtime baseball players Ben Jackels and Emmett McMenamy arrived as first-years in fall 2022, there hadn’t been a baseball team on campus since 1924.
To fill this gap, the two worked to found Drake Club Baseball, which is now a registered team that travels to compete against other Midwestern collegiate teams. In fall 2023, the team started holding pick-up games on Drake Intramural fields.
Current third-year senior and executive council member Jaxon Hicks had the same dream.
“I had met two guys a year older than me, and I was telling them that I was interested in maybe starting a baseball club,” Hicks said. “They had actually already gone through the paperwork of getting one registered, and so I kind of got plugged in from day one with them.”
In the early days of the club, members played in plain T-shirts with numbers formed from tape.
“We had maybe seven guys show up on a Saturday afternoon, and now we’re traveling to big cities, Chicago, St Louis, playing teams from other schools, taking 14 guys with us, all decked out in uniforms and everything,” Jackels said.
Now in its third year, Drake Club Baseball has overcome many barriers to become the competitive team it is today.
At Drake, there are many steps to becoming a registered student organization. First, an organization must petition for temporary registered student organization status. Then, each spring, TRSOs can petition Drake Student Senate for full RSO status, which allows them official association with Drake and the ability to book rooms and apply for annual funding.
As a sports club, Drake Club Baseball faced additional challenges, such as acquiring equipment, organizing scrimmages and registering for a league.
“I had a vision for this club and what it would be, in providing people at Drake that had a baseball background and loved baseball with a chance to play the game that they love again,” Jackels said. “That vision fueled me despite all the obstacles.”
Student Senate granted Drake Club Baseball RSO status in spring 2024. The next school year, the team began playing in the National Club Baseball Association as a Division III team.
In spring 2025, the end of its first official season, the team qualified for and competed in the league playoffs. This year, Jackels hopes to end his tenure as co-president and player with another playoff appearance.
In addition to practicing for games, Jackels has been focused on team bonding.
“We just went to Smash Park a couple of weeks ago as a team,” Jackels said. “Building that team chemistry and giving guys that opportunity is what we’re trying to do to get there [playoffs].”
As a first-year, Cole Nuzum has gotten to know other players on the team and sees them often around campus.
“Those guys, they’ve all become close friends,” Nuzum said. “It’s not just about the team and whatnot, it’s about becoming friends with everybody else.”
With Jackels, McMenamy and Hicks graduating in May, Jackels said they have been working on identifying and training future club leaders.
“Once we get those guys in that position that want to do that, then just walk with them, have them shadow us and the daily tasks that we need to do to keep this club up and running, and put [the club ] in the most responsible hands that we can,” Jackels said. “Hopefully, it’ll be a club that sees a lot of success for years to come.”
Although next year’s club president has not yet been chosen, Jackels is optimistic about the club’s future leadership.
“I really like a lot of the energy that these young guys bring. A lot of them are already stepping up as leaders on the team,” Jackels said. “I think that if we continue to see those first-years stepping up, especially as they progress in their college careers, this club is going to be in a very good spot for at least the next three years.”
As of April 13, Drake Club Baseball held a 5-3 record and sat at third in conference behind Northern Illinois University and Maryville University. The team played its last regular-season games against Northern Illinois University the weekend of April 18-19.
“I’m looking forward to just getting to play [a few] more times before I’m probably done playing the sport that I’ve played since I was four forever,” Hicks said. “A lot of the guys on the team have been here for the past three years, and we’ve gotten better every weekend that we go out and play. Seeing continued improvement and maybe making another playoff push like we had last year is something I’m looking forward to.”
Emmett McMenamy is a Times-Delphic staff writer.
