Nate Kilness has been an assistant coach with the University of Wisconsin-Stout baseball team since Sept. 2014
UW-STOUT (2014-Present)
2025: Stout went 14-26 to finish fifth in the WIAC. Stout had four All-WIAC Selections (Leyton Bowers, Austin Miller, Justin Sedin and Drew Buss) and three All-Region honorees (Bowers, Sedin, Miller). The Blue Devils hit .283 as a team with an OPS of .842 and a slugging percentage of .459. The Blue Devils had 76 stolen bases and hit 50 home runs. Freshman Kevin Zanin set a school record with five stolen bases against UW-Eau Claire. The fourth game of the series against the Bluegolds turned into a historic rout as UW-Stout exploded for 25 runs on 18 hits, demolishing UW-Eau Claire 25-4 in seven innings. The 21-run margin of victory tied a school record set against UW-Superior in 1984, while the 25 runs marked the most scored by Stout in a conference game since a 26-run outburst against UW-Superior in 1996. Stout beat #1 UW-Whtiewater 6-5 in game one of the four game series, nearly winning 3 of 4 over the weekend. Leyten Bowers earned first-team D3baseball.com and second-team ABCA/Rawlings All-Region honors. Batting .385 with a .475 on-base percentage and a .678 slugging percentage, Bowers set career highs across the board. His 55 RBIs tied for the WIAC lead, ranked 27th nationally, and matched a UW-Stout single-season record. He hit a walk-off grand slam against UW-River Falls. Justin Sedin earned All-WIAC and ABCA All-Region honors for the third straight year. Starting all 40 games at first base, Sedin hit .354 with a .433 on-base percentage and a .708 slugging percentage. His 14 home runs (16th nationally) and 44 RBIs marked career highs. Sedin set the career-home run record with 31. Drew Buss anchored the Blue Devil pitching staff, earning All-WIAC honors for his dominant work on the mound. Appearing in 11 games with eight starts, Buss logged 41.0 innings, striking out 44 batters while maintaining a 1.63 WHIP and allowing 38 earned runs. His 173 career strikeouts established a new UW-Stout record
2024: The Blue Devils went 17-21 in 2024. The Blue Devils hit .294 as a team with an OPS of .851 and a slugging percentage of .464. The Blue Devils had 64 stolen bases and hit 47 home runs. The Blue Devils a had a pair of walk-off wins. Trailing 6-5 in the bottom of the ninth against No. 24 UW-Stevens Point, Jack Redwine hit a solo homer to right field and on the very next pitch Leyton Bowers launched the walk off shot to center to lift Stout to a 7-6 win. 10 days later, Riley Boushack hit a three-run homer to right center to lift Stout to a 13-12 10-inning win over Saint Mary’s. Stout also picked up a 7-6 win over #9 UW-La Crosse. Jacob Endreas and Justin Sedin earned All-WIAC and All-Region honors. Endreas, a senior designated hitter/first baseman from Sheboygan, Wis., was named All-WIAC Honorable Mention. He led the WIAC with 14 home runs and is second with a .731 slugging percentage. He had a .345 batting average with a .444 on base percentage. He totaled 41 hits, 34 RBI, 10 walks and four doubles. His 14 homers are 11th in the nation and sits 48th in DIII in slugging percentage. He had nine multi-hit games, with five three-hit games and three multi-homer games. He hit two three-run homers in a 7-4 win over UW-Superior. Sedin, a senior first baseman/designated hitter from Poplar, Wis., was named All-WIAC for the second consecutive season. He led the Blue Devils and tied for third in the WIAC with a .414 batting average. He had a .704 slugging percentage and .462 on base percentage. He totaled 63 hits, 15 doubles, 12 walks, nine home runs and a triple with eight stolen bases and 63 RBI. He had 22 multi-hit games with eight three-hit games and two four-hit performances. He ranked 39th in the nation with 107 total bases. Sedin was also named D3baseball.com Third-Team All-Region.
2023: The Blue Devils went 17-21 in 2024. Due to the mild winter Stout was able to play 15 games on campus at Nelson Field. Jacob Endreas and Justin Sedin earned All-WIAC and All-Region honors. Endreas was named All-WIAC Honorable Mention. He led the WIAC with 14 home runs and is second with a .731 slugging percentage. He had a .345 batting average with a .444 on base percentage. Sedin, was named All-WIAC for the second consecutive season. He led the Blue Devils and tied for third in the WIAC with a .414 batting average. He had a .704 slugging percentage and .462 on base percentage. He had 22 multi-hit games with eight three-hit games and two four-hit performances. Sedin was also named D3baseball.com Third-Team All-Region. Drew Buss, led the Blue Devils with a 5-2 record in eight starts and senior Dak Doyle went 3-1 in 27.1 innings with a 2.96 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 21 strikeouts.
2023: The Blue Devils went 15-18 in 2023, playing just three true home games due to weather. Justin Sedin was 12th in the nation in on base percentage (.553) and was named All-WIAC and D3baseball.com and ABCA All-Region. Freshman pitcher Tucker Beving was named All-WIAC honorable mention.
2022: Kincaid led the Blue Devils to their third 20-plus win season (21-19). Shortstop Charlie Szykowny earned All-America honors by D3baseball.com and by ABCA/Rawlings. Szykowny was joined on the All-District team in both organizations by Joel Thimsen, who was a third team honoree. Szykowny was a finalist for the WIAC player of the year and first team All-WIAC selection. Thimsen and Jacoby Endreas were honorable mention picks.
2021: The 2021 Blue Devils put together their most wins in a single season since 2007 and the Blue Devils returned to the WIAC tournament for the first time since 2014. Stout opened the playoffs with a 2-0 win over UW-Oshkosh in Stout's first home playoff game since the early 1990s. The Blue Devils went into the tournament and upended top-seeded UW-Stevens Point 15-0 in seven innings. Kasey Bass, Charlie Szykowny, James Palmer and Hunter Merrill each earned all-region honors. And Palmer threw the first nine inning no-hitter in school history, blanking UW-Platteville, May 4, with a nine strikeout effort at Nelson Field.
2020: The Blue Devils were 2-1 before the season was canceled due to COVID-19.
2019: The 2019 season was the Blue Devils' most successful season in several years as the program returned to the WIAC Championship tournament for the first time since 2014. The team doubled the number of wins from the previous season, finishing 20-17, the Blue Devils had three players earn all-conference honors – first baseman Kasey Bass, outfielder Jordan Wilson and pitcher Casey Ryan. Bass and Wilson both earned all-region honors.
2018: The Blue Devils went 10-27 in 2018 and landed five on the All-WIAC team. Jordan Wilson and Kasey Bass received first-team honors and Jon Kruger, Brad Rindfleisch and Ben Vanhove received honorable mention recognition.
2017: The Blue Devils went 10-27 2017. Tyler Christensen was named first-team All-WIAC and ABCA All-Region. Joel Hollow also was named first team All-WIAC. Noah Brown was named honorable mention All-WIAC.
COACHING CAREER
Eau Claire Babe Ruth Baseball (1997-Present): Kilness has been associated with Eau Claire Babe Ruth baseball in some capacity for over 28 years. He has spent the last 15 years as the Fall League Program Director and has been on the board of directors since 2001. He has also coached, and served as the Prep, Junior and Travel/Tournament Team Program Director.
Assistant Coach (2010): Eleva-Strum Central High School
Assistant Coach (2008): Eau Claire Regis High School
Head Coach (2007): Lake Holcombe High School
PLAYING CAREER
Kilness played
PERSONAL
A Eau Claire native, Kilness earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from UW-Stout
