PORTLAND, Ore.—Lewis & Clark College baseball will play 40 games this Spring, including 20 contests at Jerry Gatto Field. The River Otters will host two preseason nationally-ranked teams and play 11 games against teams that are ranked or receiving votes in the D3baseball.com Preseason Top-25 Poll. 
 
Head coach Matt Kosderka's squad will kick off the season with a four-game road trip to Southern California. Baseball will take on Whittier on Opening Day, Friday, February 13 at 2 pm, for the third-straight season. The River Otters and Poets have split the last two season openers and Lewis & Clark holds an 8-2-1 record against Whittier since 2019. Last season, baseball took two of three against Whittier and current assistant coach Will Heron tied the NCAA DIII record with four home runs in an 11-4 game three win. 
 
Lewis & Clark will close out the weekend with three games against Occidental College on February 14 and 15. The two programs have played in two of the past three years and Lewis & Clark has won all four games. Last year, senior Joaquin Sandoval and junior Michael Aikawa each hit three-homers against the Tigers and junior Owen Eisen allowed one run in five innings in a 13-3 victory. 
 
Baseball will return to the Pacific Northwest for five-straight home games against Pacific Lutheran University. They will host the Lutes on Saturday, February 21 for a non-conference doubleheader at 11 am and 2:30 pm. The two sides will play a three-game conference set to open up Northwest Conference play on February 28 and March 1. Northwest Conference series are setup to have teams play a doubleheader on Saturdays, followed by a single conference game on Sunday. The River Otters and Lutes have split the past four NWC series, with Lewis & Clark winning the conference series in 2022 and 2023. 
 
Lewis & Clark will take their second and final trip to California on Saturday, March 7 and Sunday, March 8. They will play their first of four opponents receiving votes in the D3baseball.com Poll when they take on Chapman University for a pair of doubleheaders. The Panthers won the NCAA DIII Title in 2019 and most recently made the NCAA Super Regionals in 2022. They earned 27 votes in this year's preseason poll. The four-game set will be the first confirmed meetings between the two programs.
 
The River Otters will travel from Southern California to Spokane, Washington the following weekend. Lewis & Clark will take on the defending NWC Tournament Champions Whitworth University on March 14-15. The Pirates won the NWC Tournament last year after winning their final four games in the tournament. This year, Whitworth earned 15 votes in the D3baseball.com Preseason Poll. 
 
Lewis & Clark will face their third-straight team who's receiving votes, when they host #3 Denison University on Tuesday, March 17 at 3pm. The Big Red will kick off a six-game road trip to the PNW at Jerry Gatto Field. Denison is coming off a run to their first-ever College World Series and will be playing Lewis & Clark for the first time in baseball. 
 
Baseball will stay at home as part of five-game homestand when they host Whitman College for three games (March 21-22) and Linfield University for a non-conference tilt on March 24. 
 
Lewis & Clark will play their fourth and final team receiving votes in the preseason poll on April 3-4 when they host #19 Pomona-Pitzer for a three-game set. The Sagehens have appeared in the NCAA Tournament in each of the past two years and made the College World Series in 2024. The programs have split four contests over the past two seasons. Last year, Lewis & Clark won the finale 5-4 in California, after posting three runs in the final two innings. 
 
The River Otters will close out the regular-season with four-straight conference series. They will host George Fox University (April 11-12) as part of their season-high six-game homestand. Last year, Lewis & Clark took all three games against the Bruins in Newberg for their lone conference sweep of the year.  
 
Lewis & Clark will close out their home schedule with a four-game series against Willamette University on April 25-26. Baseball will honor their four seniors before their doubleheader on April 26. The River Otters and Bearcats played five times last season with Lewis & Clark taking the first three games of the year. 
 
Baseball will close out the regular season with a three-game series at Linfield University on May 2-3. 
 
The River Otters are coming off their third winning season in the past four years. They finished the 2025 season 20-19 overall and placed seventh in the NWC standings with an 11-13 mark. Lewis & Clark was in the running for the fourth and final spot in the NWC Tournament heading into the final series of the season. 
 
This year's team returns five All-Conference players and two All-Region honorees from a year ago. 
 
Aikawa is the team's top returning hitter after recording 54 hits, 19 extra-base hits, 35 runs scored, 37 runs batted in and a .372 batting average in his sophomore campaign. The junior third baseman was named to the D3baseball.com All-Region Third Team and NWC First Team last Spring. Senior shortstop Brandon Gonzaga, senior catcher Joaquin Sandoval and junior Bret Potter also earned All-Conference honors after all posting an OPS of .693 or higher. Gonzaga stole a career-high 23 bases as a junior. Sandoval leads all returners with his seven home runs a year ago and Potter hit .305 with 10 steals and 40 total hits.
 
The River Otters bring back one of their three starting pitchers and all six of their relievers who posted double-digit appearances. Senior Nate Kerr earned NWC First Team and ABCA All-Region Second Team honors after taking over the closer role as a junior. He posted a team-best 1.72 ERA in 31.1 innings and posted three wins and three saves. Junior Owen Eisen, who earned All-Conference honors as a first year, is back for his third year as a starting pitcher. Eisen has racked up four wins in each of his first two years and struck out 98 batters in 126.1 innings pitched. Lewis & Clark also brings back trusted arms in Potter, junior Shane Buchbinder and sophomore Dillon Foster.