When Brent Bizyak arrived on The College of Wooster’s campus, the Fighting Scots’ storied baseball program was already established as a power player within the Mideast Region. The star outfielder sparked the program, specifically at the 1989 Mideast Regional, and arguably is the offensive initiator as the program charted its path forward as a national contender on a near-annual basis.
Wooster’s well-oiled program won two North Coast Athletic Conference titles during Bizyak’s career, yet that success did not carry over to the NCAA Mideast Regional Tournament, with the Scots going just 1-2 during its three prior trips leading up to 1989. Things quickly trended in a positive direction during Bizyak’s senior year, with the first-team American Baseball Coaches Association All-American putting a big hurt on archnemesis Marietta College in the regional opener with three RBI, two runs scored, and two hits. He followed that up with a 2-for-3 game with two RBI, two walks, and a run scored in a 10-4 victory over Aurora University the next day.
Bizyak’s hot stretch continued with a spot in the regional championship round on the line against Illinois Wesleyan University. In that 12-10 win, Bizyak matched the program’s single-game record with six hits en route to a 6-for-6 showing with three RBI, two runs scored, two doubles, and a triple. Marietta extracted revenge in the championship round, forcing the winner-take-all game with a 9-6 victory. Bizyak did his part to keep Wooster in the game, going 4-for-5 with three RBI and a home run. Pitching, specifically a combined five-hit shutout by Mark Bricker and Andy Lott, punched Wooster’s first ticket to the Div. III “World Series,” as the Scots took the winner-take-all game 4-0.
The Mideast Regional Most Valuable Player hit .609 (14-for-23) over the five games at Otterbein College with a team-leading 11 RBI. Overall, the first-team ABCA All-Mideast Region and two-time All-NCAC honoree hit a team-leading .437 (69-for-158) as a senior. He tied for the team lead with 52 runs and tied for second with 49 RBI.
Earlier in his career, Bizyak was a part-time player while playing behind some of Wooster’s top statistical outfielders. He hit .286 (10-for-35) as a first-year, then started to catch fire as a sophomore, while playing in 29 of the team’s 45 games. He hit .313 (26-for-83) that year with 17 runs and 12 RBI. The Pennsylvania native broke into the regular lineup as a junior en route to finishing the year with a .350 average (55-for-157), 42 runs, and All-NCAC honors for the first time. He played on teams that went 136-45.
“I thought all along Brent was going to be a tremendous player for us,” then-head coach Tim Pettorini shared. “It just took a little time for him to grow into the tremendous player he became. He worked as hard as any player we ever had at improving his strength and becoming the All-American player he was. His performance in the 1989 regional tournament almost single-handedly carried us to our first “World Series” appearance.”
After graduating from Wooster with a degree in business economics, Bizyak earned an MBA from Robert Morris University. He has spent the majority of his professional career in the financial services industry, and is presently a wealth management executive for Royal Bank of Canada.
Bizyak, and his wife, Maureen, reside in Raleigh, North Carolina, and have three children, Gavin, Garrett, and Grady.