The last time UW-River Falls played an NCAA-sanctioned baseball game, it was almost 23 years ago. May 5, 2002, to be exact. The Falcons lost a 6-1 game to UW-Superior and after that game, the program was dropped.

Some blamed Title IX, some blamed budget constraints, but whatever the reason, UW-River Falls was the only WIAC university to not field a baseball team.

In the fall of 2022, colleges and universities nationwide were seeing significant drops in student enrollment due to all-time high tuition costs and the lower-level job market paying all-time high wages enticing people back tonwork from the Covid shutdowns. Former UW-River Falls Chancellor Maria Gallo made the decision to bring baseball and the approximate 80 students trying out back to campus.

UW-Whitewater Assistant Coach Steve Bartlein was hired to lead Falcon baseball in August 2023, and he has been restarting the program from scratch.

"It's been a lot of work," said the 34-year-old Bartlein. "This facility is great and we didn't have to do a thing for that, but in terms of the roster, there was substantial evaluation. It's been like putting a puzzle together."

The Falcons signed a two-year lease with the River Falls Baseball Council to practice and play all their home games at First National Bank of River Falls Field. Thirty of their 39 rostered players are freshmen.

"We do have a lot young guys," said redshirt freshman Minnesota Gopher-transfer Cade Bruett. "Coach Bartlein has really high expectations for us and his goal from day one is to win, but we are building and I like our foundation."

Bruett, a Delano, Minn., native and son of former Minnesota Twin J.T. Bruett, said the facility and location were a big draw for him, but Coach Bartlein was the number one reason.

"He's really honest and he's there to support us, but he's also there to push us every day. We focus on getting better every single day."

Bartlein was an all-conference player for UW-Whitewater and was on the Warhawk team that reached the DIII College World Series in 2011. After a few years at the high school level and helping with Carroll University, the Milwaukee native was the recruiting coordinator and assistant coach at UW-Whitewater for six years. The Warhawks were the winningest program in Division III during his tenure in Whitewater.

"They (UWW) have been a national power for 22 years," said Bartlein. "The success was built on the backs of the guys before the success. The biggest things I took away is building tradition and developing the guys we have."

A key component to developing young players is having a strong coaching staff. Bartlein played at Whitewater with River Falls' Marty Herum. Herum was a two-time WIAC Player-of-the-Year in just two seasons and played in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization for seven seasons. 

"Marty's accolades on the field are great," said Bartlein, "but most people don't know how much he wants to help. He really does have a passion for teaching."

"Baseball has been such a big part of my life," said Herum. "It (coaching) definitely scratched an itch I've had being away from it for a couple years."

Herum, who had a .420 career college batting average and a .292 professional career batting average, will be working with the hitters and infielders.

"Being outdoors, being at the ballpark, and all the camaraderie is the fun part," said Herum, "but teaching is the rewarding part. I love it when we work on stuff and seeing the smile on their faces when it clicks."

"We have some high-level coaches," said Arcadia, Wis., native freshmen pitcher/first baseman Connor Weltzien. "Coach Lombard helped me add about 5 miles per hour on my fastball with better mechanics."

Assistant Coach Weston Lombard is a Stillwater native and many local baseball fans may know him from pitching for the River Falls Fighting Fish in recent years. Lombard was an all-conference pitcher for Gustavus Adolphus and transferred to Division I University of San Francisco and led the team in wins in 2023. Lombard's full-time day-job is a product manager for the Mustard App. Mustard uses artificial intelligence and computer vision to formulate training programs for pitchers by enhancing their biomechanics.

Another River Falls' baseball icon, Brian Giebel, is also on staff coaching for the Falcons. Geibel earned all-conference and all-region accolades playing at UW-Stout from 2008-11. The longtime Fighting Fish lead-off hitter has 70 homeruns in his illustrious Wisconsin Baseball Association career.

"The team is young and the staff is young," said Herum. "It's going to be fun and I'm excited."

It has been a long 18 months for Bartlein and his staff in preparation for the first game in almost 23 years, which the Falcons won 14-3 over Nebraska Wesleyan this past Thursday in Auburndale, Fla. They are on their spring break trip in Florida like most northern collegiate baseball teams this time of year playing six games in seven days before they return home. The Falcons will play Bethel University at U.S. Bank Stadium in a doubleheader on Sunday, March 23 beginning at 3 p.m.

"We've had a lot of practices and a lot of preparation." said Medford, Wis. freshman infielder Tanner Hraby. "We're just pumped to finally start playing some real games. None of us knew each other when we came here this fall but we had a team bonding canoe trip in September and we had to complete tasks in teams. It was awesome."

"If the canoe flips, who's there to help," said Bartlein. "All of those things you learn along the way are stepping stones to building tradition."

Leading the canoe trip was Falcon baseball alum and current River Falls High School Baseball Head Coach and outdoor education teacher Ryan Bishop. Bishop and fellow Falcon baseball alum, Josh Eidem, were instrumental in helping the volunteer non-profit River Falls Baseball Council build First National Bank of River Falls Field in 2013.

"Those two (Bishop and Eidem) carried on traditions when we didn't even have a program by keeping an alumni list and having an annual alumni game," said Bartlein. "I didn't anticipate that and had no idea what that network was like."

"Coach Bartlein told us about talking with a bunch of Falcon baseball alumni at the homecoming football game in the fall," said Weltzien, "and you could hear the energy and atmosphere in his voice. We can't wait to meet all those guys."

"Bringing baseball back is way bigger than my role," said Bartlein. "These guys on this team get to make their own traditions but there was an end in that loop 23 years ago and now these guys get to reseal it."

UW-River Falls will host UW-Stevens Point at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 29 for a doubleheader in the first home Falcon baseball game in over two decades.

"We're all excited to get after it," said Weltzien.