Chris Schwarz begins his 22nd season as head baseball coach at UW-La Crosse in 2025-26. The Eagles earned their ninth National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Tournament appearance, including third straight, in 2025. UWL was 35-11 in 2025 and saw the Eagles host their third straight NCAA III Regional.
The 2025 season included a second place regular season finish in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) with a 23-5 conference record. For the eighth time in the past 11 seasons, UWL had at least four players earn WIAC First Team All-Conference honors including Mac Born, Isaiah Katz, Caleb Matl, Andrew Rajkovich, George Seaman, Nate Witte and Chayce Osterhaus. AJ Curtis was named the WIAC Kwik Trip Newcomer of the Year as well. Nationally, Seaman was named an American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings Third Team All-American while six players earned All-Region honors. Seaman was named an ABCA First Team selection while Antony Vivian was a second team selection. D3baseball.com named Seaman a Frist Team selection while Born, Matl and Rajkovich received Second Team honors and Witte earned Third Team.
Their 35 wins is the third most in a single season as UWL finished ranked 14th in the final D3baseball.com Top-25 poll. UWL now has eight 30-win seasons in school history, all coming under Schwarz. UWL won a school record 39 games in 2016, finishing 39-10 overall and advancing to the NCAA Division III Championships where they finished national runner-up.
UWL finished the 2024 season with the second most victories in a single season as they were 36-16 overall and 16-8 in WIAC play. The Eagles advanced to the NCAA Division III Super Regional for the second consecutive season after capturing a regional title with a pair over victories over Coe College (Iowa). UWL would fall 2-1 to UW-Whitewater in the NCAA III Super Regional and finish the season ranked 14th on the D3baseball.com/National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Top-25 Poll.
Born, Katz, Tyler Schmitt, Seaman and Chris VandenHeuvel were named to the 2024 All-WIAC First Team. Born earned D3baseball.com All-America Second Team honors in 2024. Born (First Team) and VandenHeuvel (Second Team) were both D3baseball.com All-Region selections. Born, Seaman, VandenHeuvel and Vivian were all named to the 2024 ABCA/Rawlings All-Region Second Team while Nate Witte earned ABCA/Rawlings Third Team accolades.
UWL finished 36-13 overall and 18-6 in the WIAC in 2023. The Eagles advanced to the NCAA Division III Championships for the third time (2015, 2016, 2023) in school history. The 36 wins are tied for second-most in single-season school history. The Eagles earned the trip to the national championships after capturing the NCAA Division III Super Regional with a 16-10 victory over UW-Stevens Point. UWL advanced to the Super Regional after winning the NCAA III Regional with a 16-3 victory over Bethel University (Minn.). Schwarz led UWL to the 2023 WIAC Tournament title with a 7-2 victory over UW-Whitewater. He was selected the WIAC Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his career (2006, 2012, 2016, 2023). Schwarz was also voted the 2023 D3baseball.com All-Region Coach of the Year for the fourth time (2012, 2015, 2016, 2023) and the 2023 American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Region 9 Coach of the Year for the third time (2015, 2016, 2023).
Owen Anderson, Born, Katz, Schmitt and Vivian were voted to the 2023 All-WIAC First Team with Katz being selected the WIAC Pitcher of the Year and Schmitt the WIAC Newcomer of the Year. Born (Second Team), Katz (First Team), Schmitt (Second Team) and Vivian (Second Team) earned 2023 D3baseball.com All-Region honors. Katz was also selected the D3baseball.com Region Pitcher of the Year and to the ABCA/Rawlings All-Region Second Team. Schmitt was named to the ABCA/Rawlings All-Region Third team and Vivian to the First Team. Vivian was selected to the 2023 ABCA/Rawlings All-America Fourth Team.
UWL has advanced to the WIAC Tournament in 14 different seasons under Schwarz. The Eagles finished 24-18 overall and 16-12 in the WIAC in 2022. The 2018 and 2020 conference tournaments were not held. UWL finished 30-13 overall and 19-9 in the in 2021.
UWL has won 499 games under head coach Chris Schwarz.
The winningest coach in school history with a 534-341-2 (.610) record in 21 years at UWL, Schwarz earned his 500th career win in the Eagles' 8-3 victory at Chapman University (Calif.) on March 8, 2025.
UWL made back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship in 2015 and 2016. UWL made its first ever appearance in the NCAA III Championship in 2015 in Appleton, Wisconsin, advancing to the best-of-three championship series and a runner-up national finish. The Eagles finished third in the final 2015 American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Collegiate Baseball and D3baseball.com Polls. UWL made its second straight appearance in the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship in 2016. The Eagles were fourth in the final 2016 ABCA/Collegiate Baseball and D3baseball.com Polls.
Named the 2016 ABCA/Diamond Midwest Regional Coach of the Year for the second straight season, Schwarz led UWL to 39-10 overall and 18-2 mark in the WIAC, winning its 14th regular-season conference title in school history. He was also selected the 2016 D3baseball.com All-Midwest Region Coach of the Year for the third time in his career (2012, 2015, 2016). Taylor Kohlway was named the ABCA/Rawlings Gold Bat Award for the National Player of the Year and was selected in the 21st Round of the 2016 Major League Baseball Draft by the San Diego Padres.
During one of the best stretches in program history (2012-2017), UWL made five appearances in six years in the NCAA Division III National Tournament, all under Schwarz. UWL won back-to-back NCAA III Midwest Regional titles at La Crosse's Copeland Park in 2015 and 2016. The Eagles went 4-0 at the 2016 NCAA III Midwest Regional and 5-1 in 2015. Over this six year span, Schwarz was named Midwest Region Coach of the Year three times (2012, 2015, 2016), WIAC Coach of the Year in 2012 and Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association (WBCA) Coach of the Year (2012).
Joining Kohlwey as MLB draft picks was Joel Effertz who was taken in the 28th Round of the 2013 draft by the Miami Marlins and Caleb Boushley who was picked in the 33rd of the 2017 MLB Draft by the San Diego Padres.
This stretch also saw the Eagles win their first WIAC title since 2000 and first outright conference championship since 1978. The team won its second WIAC Tournament title in school history with a 9-1 victory over UW-Whitewater in 2012, earning an automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA Division III Championships.
Schwarz earned his bachelor’s (2002) and master’s (2004) degrees from UWL. He was a four-year baseball letter winner for the Eagles and named to the 2002 All-WIAC Team after pitching in a school record 19 games. He went 2-1 with a 4.32 earned run average and had a team-leading seven saves in 2002, tied for third-most in single-season school history.The 2002 season also saw Schwarz make 19 appearances on the mound which is third most in a single season.
Schwarz is tied for fifth in career saves at UWL with 10. A member of two WIAC Championship teams (1998, 2000), Schwarz was an Eagles’ team captain in 2002.
He also earned three letters with the UWL football team and was a member of the conference champion squad in 1999. Schwarz was named to the WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll in 2001 and 2002.
Schwarz and his family reside in Westby.
