ST. PAUL, Minn. – Concordia-St. Paul head baseball coach Neil Lerner has announced the addition of three transfers and two freshmen for the 2023-24 signing class to bring the total to 11.
 
Lerner on the five additions: "We are very excited to add these 5 players to our roster for the 23-24 season. Not only are they talented baseball players, they are also tremendous people that should mesh well into our team culture. With a large portion of our '23 roster back, we were hoping to add some players that could make an immediate impact during the '24 season, and we believe there are players in this group that can do that."  
Andrew Boeser (RHP, 6-1, 200, Jr., Shoreview, Minn. / Mounds View HS /Iowa Central CC)
 
Iowa Central Community College Career
2023: Received the ICCC Academic Award … appeared in six games for the Tritons on the mound … tallied 9.0 innings of work with an earned run average of 5.0 and a WHIP of 1.33 … allowed eight hits and five earned runs … collected eight strikeouts and walked four batters … pitched a season-high 2.0 innings with a strikeout against Northern Oklahoma College-Enid (2/11) … helped the Tritons to a conference championship.
 
2022: Appeared in nine games with six starts … finished with a record of 6-4 in his freshman campaign on the bump … tallied 26.0 innings pitched with an earned run average of 4.15 and a WHIP of 1.46 … collected 31 strikeouts and walked 10 batters … allowed 28 hits and 12 earned runs … recorded career-high 10 strikeout performance against Bryant & Stratton College (3/6) that made him ICCAC Pitcher of the Week.
 
Mounds View High School: Lettered in baseball all four of high school … received All-Conference honors and helped his squad to an MSHSL State Tournament appearance.
 
Personal: Plans to major in business with a minor in sales at CSP … following graduation he plans to own his own business … he was drawn to CSP by the CSP baseball coaching staff … received an associate of arts degree at ICCC … has two sisters.
 
Lerner on Boeser: "Andrew comes to CSP after a very successful two year career at Iowa Central. He was a part of two teams that won a lot of baseball games, and we are looking forward to him bringing that winning attitude with him. Andrew is an extremely hard worker and has had experience as a starter and a reliever at Iowa Central and that will be valuable experience for him as he works to fill a role for us within our staff. He has the ability to run his fastball into the upper 80s and uses his secondary pitches effectively to be a tough matchup for a lot of hitters.  We look for him to make an immediate impact on our pitching staff during the '24 season."  
 Blake Eckmann (IF, 6-0, 210, Fr., Mendota Heights, Minn. / Two Rivers HS)
 
Two Rivers High School: Metro East All-Conference (Baseball) … West St. Paul Legion Baseball Most Valuable Player … Two Rivers High School Male Athlete of the Year in 2023 … collected nine combined letters in baseball, hockey and tennis for the Warriors … helped his team to a runner-up finish in the 2022 4AAA Section in baseball … was a varsity captain for his hockey team.
 
Personal: Plans to major in Biology at CSP … his father played baseball at St. Cloud State and his mother played tennis at College of St. Benedict … has a younger brother and a younger sister.
 
Lerner on Eckmann: "Blake is a local kid who played high school baseball at Two Rivers High School. He didn't take the traditional route and took a gap year where he trained and played baseball for Minnesota Post Grad and had a really productive year at the plate. All we heard about Blake when we started to recruit him was how bright of a kid he was and how hard he worked during his time at both the high school level and the Post Grad program. We are excited to see him continue to work hard on the practice field and classroom and develop over the next few years!"  
 Kaden Johnson (OF/IF, 6-0, 190, Fr., White Bear Lake, Minn. / White Bear Lake HS)
 
White Bear Lake High School: Two-time All-Conference … attended Basha High School in Chandler, Ariz., before transferring to White Bear Lake for his last two years of high school ball … in his final season with the Bears, he tallied a batting average of .440, an on-base percentage of .517 and an on-base plus slugging percentage of 1.224 … collected 33 hits that included nine doubles, a triple and three homers … drove in 32 runs and scored 24 times … successfully stole five bases … helped his team to a winning record of 11-8. 
 
Personal: Plans to major in sports communications with a minor in exercise science at CSP … upon graduation, he would like to continue to play baseball … is an only child.
 
Lerner on Johnson: "We are excited to add Kaden Johnson to this class! We found out about him during his senior year high school season and were immediately impressed with his athleticism that he presents and the way he plays the game. After a really successful high school career, we are confident that he will have a smooth transition into the college level!  If he continues to develop like we expect, he could push for playing time as a freshman."  
Bennett McCollow (IF, 5-10, 190, Jr., Bloomington, Minn. / Bloomington Jefferson HS / North Iowa Area CC)
 
North Iowa Area Community College Career
2023: ICCAC All-Region Honorable Mention… ICCAC Division II Player of the Week (3/28-4/3) … First Team All-Academic for both the fall and spring semesters … appeared in 47 games for the Trojans in his sophomore campaign … slashed .326/.470/.674 with 59 hits that included 15 doubles and 16 home runs … scored 60 times and drove in 40 runs … recorded 38 walks … went 3-3 with a pair of home runs against Des Moines Area Community College (4/2).
 
2022: Second Team All-Academic in the fall semester … appeared in 47 games for the Trojans in his freshman year … slashed .291/.415/.595 with 43 hits that included nine doubles and 12 home runs … drove in 47 runs and scored 37 runs of his own … stole five bases and tallied 25 walks … collected his first career home run against Bryant & Stratton (3/9) … hit a trio of home runs, drove in six runners and crossed the plate four times against Kirkwood (3/30).
 
Bloomington Jefferson High School: MSHSL All-State Selection … two-time All-Metro Team member … three-time Metro West All-Conference … two-time All-Selection … was named team captain … lettered five times in baseball for the Jaguars … in his freshman year, he hit .362/.484/.404 with a pair of doubles, 16 RBIs and 13 runs scored … in his sophomore season he hit .361/.500/.492 with eight doubles, 11 RBIs and 16 runs … in his final season of high school ball he hit .412/.595/.902 with six doubles, a pair of triples and five home runs while also driving in 27 runners and scoring 26 runs of his own … helped his team win the Metro West in 2021 … represented the Jaguars in the Minnesota All-Star game.
 
Personal: Plans to major in secondary education at CSP to pursue a career in teaching and coaching … received an associate degree in arts at NIACC and a coaching certification … his father was an All-American in golf at St. Johns … has an older sister.
 
Lerner on McCollow: "Bennett is someone that can come in and be an immediate impact guy for us. Having experience playing a handful of infield positions during his two year career at Northern Iowa Area Community College, he will provide depth and flexibility within our infield. Bennett has some big time bat speed and power that we think will easily transfer into our level and with his work ethic, we believe he will only continue to get better!"  
Jeremy McGuigan (OF, 5-7, 195, Jr., Plainfield, Ill. / Plainfield South HS / Spoon River College)
 
Spoon River College Career
2023: Named to the 2023 President's list for the spring term … appeared in 50 games during his sophomore year with the Snappers … finished with a .238 batting average with 31 hits that included seven doubles and three home runs … scored 33 times and drove in 25 runs … set the school record for walks with 45 … added 18 stolen bases … went 2-2 with three runs, three walks and a pair of RBIs against Illinois College (4/19).
 
2022: Appeared in 45 games for the Snappers in his freshman campaign … tallied a batting average of .272 with 37 hits that included six doubles, a triple and a home run … scored 32 runs and drove across 20 runners … reached safely via walk 33 times … successfully stole seven bases … recorded his first career home run against John Wood (5/2).
 
Plainfield South High School: 2021 All-Conference Selection … collected three letters in both baseball and football for the Cougars … he slashed .272/.443/.388 with 96 hits that included 21 doubles and six home runs, was walked 98 times and drove in 61 runners … he also successfully stole 30 bags … helped lead his team to a summer state championship, a conference championships and a regional title in 2019, and a regional championship in 2021.
 
Personal: Plans to major in business at CSP … received an associate's degree from Spoon River College (Ill.) … has two brothers … his older brother, Justin, is a catcher for the Golden Bears, while his younger brother plays baseball at College of DuPage and his grandfather played baseball at Whittier College (Calif.).
 
Lerner on McGuigan: "Jeremy McGuigan comes to CSP after a successful two year career at Spoon River Community College. He was an on base machine over his two years at Spoon River. Jeremy comes from a familiar family within CSP Baseball as he joins his brother and current CSP catcher, Justin McGuigan. We are excited to have another McGuigan in our program and look forward to seeing the hard work Jeremy will put in in a CSP uniform!"