The University of Chicago baseball team has tied a school record for victories this season, and is looking good to get their first Division III NCAA Tournament berth as well.

It's been a year of making history for the Maroons baseball team. That includes getting ranked in the top 25 in Division III for the first time ever.

"It was pretty awesome for us. I mean, we'd been working pretty hard for a long time; just always on campus, always grinding. Things are starting to come together here this year, and it was great to see that," senior Hayden Leiderman said.

"It's wonderful to see these guys getting recognition for their hard work and effort, and they've been doing it for four years, and it's just now where it's kind of come to fruition," head coach Kevin Tyrrell said.

It has been quite the journey to this point, especially for the team's seniors. When they arrived on campus as freshmen, the baseball team didn't even have a manager.

"Before I'd gotten to campus, I got an email from the previous head coach, who had recruited me, he'd  been my only point of contact at the university, telling me that he wasn't going to be here as head coach. So KT stepped up, and at the time I had never even spoken to KT. So it was definitely a little bit scary, especially coming to college for the first time, and over the last four years, KT has proven he's committed and he's here for us."

The players have to be extra committed at a school with the academic standards of the University of Chicago.

"We can tell when it's midterm week just by looking in their eyes," Tyrrelll said. "Our assistant coaches have done a great job making sure that we're flexible in our scheduling. Between Monday and Friday, everybody's in class at some point. So we have sometimes 5-6 practices a day, with a group of 8 to 10 guys. So it's exhausting. It's a lot on the coaches. We want to make sure that none of our ballplayers has to choose between going to class and going to practice."

"I think he understands the commitment we have as students. UChicago is a very rigorous institution. We're working our butts off in the classroom every day, but he tries to channel that and realize, hey, we're working our butts off in the classroom, let's work hard on the field as well," senior Drew Bryan said.

Before the seniors close out their careers, Tyrrell has them share their favorite memories from their time at the University of Chicago. The number one response overwhelmingly is the time they spend together off the field, going out to team dinners or otherwise, but for one junior, his moment to remember, understandably, came on the field.

"I hit a home run at Guaranteed Rate Field. I'm a huge White Sox fan, so that was just one of the coolest things for me baseball-wise I've ever been a part of. Just seeing it land over the fence at the field I've been to a million times, just one of the coolest experiences I've ever had," Michael Gladden said.

The Maroons are hoping they have a few more cool moments to remember this season.