RICHMOND, VA. – VCU baseball hurler Patrick Steitz was ranked among the nation's best starters on the mound by D1Baseball, the organization announced with its Top 200 Starting Pitchers list on Thursday.
 
Steitz, who joined the Rams this year after two years at Kansas, was named the No. 200 starting pitcher entering the 2026 campaign.
 
The Peoria, Arizona, native is a 6-8, 210-pound righty that spent a pair of seasons at the Big 12's Kansas, compiling a career 2.63 ERA and sub-1.50 WHIP across his 12 starts. Steitz struck out 28 over his 37.2 innings of work, combining for a shutout and compiling a 4-2 record. A season ago, he allowed one or fewer earned runs in all but one of his appearances and posted a perfect 2-0 record.
 
Prior to his time in Lawrence, Steitz was ranked the No. 32 JUCO to four-year school transfer by Perfect Game after concluding his All-American career as an NJCAA DI World Series Champion at Central Arizona.
 
Steitz was a strong addition to the Rams' rotation this season and will debut in the Black & Gold when they return to play next weekend at The Diamond. VCU opens its 2026 campaign next on Friday, Feb. 13, at 1:30 p.m. against Holy Cross.
 
Also appearing in the organization's position rankings, sophomore catcher Jacob Lee got the nod at No. 7 ahead of the season.
 
Visit D1Baseball's website for the complete Top 200 Starting Pitchers list here.