“Go where the opportunity is”: Hank Zeisler’s journey from Division III to the SEC

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The old saying 'the best things in life don't come easy,' reigns true for Mizzou first baseman Hank Zeisler. In his first season in the Southeastern Conference, he's packed a punch for MU at the plate, leading his team with 38 RBI along with 10 home runs. However, his journey to becoming an SEC starter was anything but ordinary.

From the time he was little, Zeisler always had a love for the game.

"As I'm sure everyone at this level is, I was one of the best in little league and playing travel ball," he said.

He wanted to continue his playing career at the next level, but just a couple of games into his senior season, he tore his knee stealing third base during high school practice.

"I just heard a pop and I tore my meniscus, so that was that. It was real tough to watch that season from the benches," he said.

Luckily for Zeisler, he had connections at Chapman University, a Division III program with quite a bit of prior success. Head coach Scott Laverty said he knew that Zeisler would be a good fit on the team, but since he didn't play much in his senior season, Laverty had him come in as a walk-on.

"There's definitely guys that you let walk on that you're going, this guy has no chance, unfortunately. Good kid, but he's just playing a position that we're full at or something like that," he said. "But Hank, right from the get-go...especially once we got him to campus and once we started work, this is somebody that we were going to have on the team."

The first baseman played at Chapman University for four seasons. In that time, he and the Panthers won the Division III National Championship in 2019 and also experienced all the ups and downs of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"He’s made himself the best version of himself. He worked so hard to, you know, to be the best player that he could be," Laverty said.

After his time at Chapman came to a close, Zeisler made the jump to Division I in 2022, joining the UNLV Rebels. He said there's quite a bit of obvious differences from a Division III to a Division I program.

“I guess it’s just like a different atmosphere. The resources are a lot different," he said "At Chapman we have one weight room for all athletes, our field is off campus, our batting cages are off campus, in a different location.” 

During his time in Las Vegas, he was named to the All-Mountain West First-Team, ranking in the top 100 in 11, different statistical categories, including on-base percentage, hits per game, runs batted in per game and more. He led the Rebels in home runs, RBI, batting average and slugging percentage in 2022.

Zeisler then made the jump to, arguably, the best conference in all of college baseball: the SEC.

“I remember our first road series at South Carolina, I like walked onto the field for a practice like big eyes, big smile," he said. "That was probably one of the nicest ball parks I've ever played in. I was talking to guys and they were like, 'oh, yeah this is SEC baseball.'"

Head coach Steve Bieser said the Tigers can attribute a lot of their success this season to the impact Zeisler made when he arrived on campus.

"He has that personality about him that everybody kind of gravitates to him on a team. Whenever things are going bad, they're going to look at him and see how he's responding," Bieser said.

He's made an impact on the field, as well. Zeisler has not only driven in the team-high RBI, but tallies 10 home runs and 33 hits in the 2023 season. His .980 fielding percentage is also one of the best on the team.

Zeisler said that, from day one, there was a strong mutual respect between him and his teammates.

"This being my however many-th year now playing college baseball, they respect and appreciate everything I've done when I got here. That made it nice for me because I didn't have to press or stress or change anything I was doing."

The 2023 Tiger team has had some bright moments in conference action. So far, the season has been highlighted by a three-game sweep against then-No. 2 Tennessee. MU also handed the perennial powerhouse, Vanderbilt, it's first conference loss of the season.

Zeisler and the Tigers just wrapped up a series at Texas A&M, but will be back in action at Taylor Stadium on Tuesday, April 18 at 6 p.m. against Missouri State.

There are 19 games left in Zeisler's sixth season of college baseball, a season which his coaches said no one deserves more.

"From just the amount of he loves the game and what he wants to do, not only for himself, but for his teammates," Laverty said. "I mean, he wants to have success, but the ultimate goal is that if we play well, everybody looks good."

You can watch Zeisler's full story on ABC 17's SportsZone at 9:30 on Fox 22 and 10:30 on ABC 17.