SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — After 308 games in the same uniform at Division II Augustana College in South Dakota and the summer wood bat Eau Claire Express, Nate Baumann and Drew Heithoff will have the opportunity to pursue the dream of playing professionally as teammates once more as each agreed to terms with the Schaumburg Boomers, it was announced today.

As seniors at Augustana (not to be confused with the Division III school in Rock Island, Ill. of the same name), Baumann and Heithoff helped lead the Vikings to the school’s first-ever birth in the NCAA Division II Championship Tournament and both names can be found all over the Augustana record books. In addition, the two played a pair of seasons with Eau Claire, excelling against some of the top college competition in the wood bat Northwoods League and helping the Express secure the franchise’s first-ever championship in 2010.

“Nate and Drew have both had outstanding college careers, and what really got my attention, was the success they both had with the wood bat in a very competitive collegiate summer league,” said Boomers Manager Jamie Bennett. “Both are very talented, athletic, and versatile players who deserve an opportunity to compete at the next level, and I'm sure it is very special to them to head in to this experience with the familiarity of a friend and teammate.”

Baumann, 22, was named a Daktronics NCAA Division II All-America (Second Team in 2010 and Third Team in 2011) twice as a member of the Vikings Baseball Team. A career .398 hitter in 183 collegiate contests, Baumann holds a number of career records at Augustana including: homeruns (49), doubles (49), hits (269), slugging percentage (.712), runs scored (205), RBI (192), total bases (481) and stolen bases in a season (40). As a senior captain for the Vikings, the 6’1” outfielder earned Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) First Team All-Conference Honors for the third consecutive season. Baumann was also the only freshman named All-NSIC in 2008 when he took home Second Team honors.

In two seasons with Eau Claire, the St. Cloud, Minn. native batted .297 in 327 regular season at-bats. Baumann amassed six homers and 48 RBI while with the Express adding 20 doubles and 14 stolen bases. In 2011, Baumann played briefly with the summer collegiate M.I.N.K. (Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas) League Champions, the St. Joseph Mustangs.

Heithoff, 24, boasted a .314 batting average in 204 career games and was named to the NSIC All-Conference Second Team in 2011. The speedy second baseman is the Vikings career leader in games played (204), at-bats (697), stolen bases (89) and stolen base attempts (97). Over the course of his Augustana career, Heithoff was successful on 92% of his stolen base attempts being caught just eight times in 97 chances.

The Modesto, Calif. native had a strong college career but absolutely thrived with a wood bat against top competition in the Northwoods League. Leading the league with a .389 batting average in 55 games in 2010, Heithoff took home the Rawlings “Big Stick” Award, the Eau Claire Express MVP and was also named a first and second half NWL All-Star. Heithoff also contributed a staggering .515 on-base percentage and .478 slugging percentage to go along with 17 stolen bases in 2010 with the Express.

With the additions of Baumann and Heithoff, the Schaumburg Boomers now have five players under contract for their Inaugural Season including pitcher Matt Collins and infielders Tyler Boling and Andrew Cohn. All five will be part of a maximum 34-man roster when the Boomers open Spring Training in early May.

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