WASHINGTON, D.C. – For everyone who has ever put on a Washington University in St. Louis baseball uniform, memories of wins and losses, road trips with teammates, and those early-season batting practices outside are some of the best times of their lives.

A selected few have earned the right to continue their baseball careers beyond Danforth Campus in the major leagues.

In 2021, and for the first time in nearly 25 years, the Bears saw not just one but two players earn a contract to further their professional careers. Caleb Durbin was selected 427th overall when he was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 14th round of the MLB draft while teammate Ryan Loutos signed with the St. Louis Cardinals as an undrafted free agent.

"When we first saw them in the recruiting process, both coach (Adam) Rosen and I thought that they stood out for a couple of reasons," mentioned WashU head coach Pat Bloom. "Number one, because of what we thought was their level of competitiveness and readiness skill-wise as they were, and then also the second thing was the potential we thought that they had. Getting into our program to be able to grow and develop."

"Over time with both of them, they have grown physically, mentally, and emotionally, and their technical aspect of the game has grown immensely."

After Durbin was drafted, he spent his first season in 2022 with the Braves organization before being traded to the Yankees' High-A Hudson Valley Renegades. After two seasons and playing on their A-AAA teams, Durbin was traded to the AAA Nashville Sounds in the Milwaukee Brewers organization. But after just 13 games, Durbin got the call that he was being brought up to the major leagues and made his debut on April 18, 2025, in a 5-3 win for the Brewers over the Athletics where he went two-for-four with a run scored and a stolen base.

"Yeah, I think you get called up and it can be overwhelming at first, but I think Coach (Pat) Murphy made it easy for me," said Durbin. "Letting me know that it's about the team. Obviously, your debut can be kind of hectic and a lot going on. But you know, as long as you make it about the team and keep the main thing the main thing, which is winning, then you know it can help you settle in a little bit more and that was definitely what helped me."

"It was just having the guys around me that were playing hard that yeah, I didn't have to do anything crazy just play my game and try to help the team win."

So far this season with the Brewers, Durbin is hitting .268 with 74 hits, 38 RBIs, 10 stolen bases, and five home runs (entering 8/4/25).

For Loutos, he spent the first three-plus seasons within the Cardinals organization, including getting called up in the Majors in 2024 where he made three appearances. He then started the 2025 season with the Cardinals' AAA team Memphis Red Birds before being traded to the Oklahoma City Comets of the Dodgers organization. After just seven appearances, he was called up to Los Angeles before being traded to the Washington Nationals. After eight appearances for the team in the nation's capital, he was optioned to their Triple-A team, the Rochester Red Wings.

"My journey is my journey," described Loutos when asked about his time in professional baseball. "As much as we want to have control, you only have control over what you put in from the effort you put in, the pitches you throw, and the times you throw them. Every other part is out of my control. That being said, I truly love and accept anything that comes with this career."

"To be in the position that I am in, to experience these things, it means things are going well, and I do not think that four years ago I would have been here to even experience this. In the end, I'm playing baseball for a living, so regardless of whatever happens on the journey, life is good."

That is where it leads to this past weekend. For the first time in 24 years, MLB had former D3 teammates face off against each other in the majors. The last time was when Eric Owens and recent Baseball Hall of Famer Billy Wagner, teammates at Ferrum College (Va.), faced off against each other eight times from 1996-2001.

"It meant a lot to both of us," said Owens, who is currently the head coach at Ferrum. "But we knew what we were doing, both being Division III guys against each other, but we didn't see each other as D3 guys; we saw it as we each made it, and we were big leaguers."

"Right now, that's super cool, seeing Billy Wagner get into the Hall of Fame," added Durbin. "I was looking for different modes of inspiration, especially coming out of a D3 school, and for me being a smaller guy, so obviously that stuff is really cool for me to see."

On August 1, Durbin and the Brewers were in DC to take on Loutos, who was recalled, and the Nationals. After the Nationals scored in the bottom of the first, the Brewers would end up taking a 9-4 lead into the seventh inning.

Loutos took the mound for Washington to start the seventh inning. After giving up two singles, a home run, and striking out Christian Yelich, he would see a familiar face in the batter's box in Durbin. Durbin would foul off the first pitch before taking a ball to even the count at 1-1. The third pitch he hit down toward shortstop but beat out an errant throw for an infield single before advancing to second. 

"It was awesome. It was a lot of fun," joked Durbin. "Just a lot of memories from when we were going through the whole draft process, not really knowing if either of us would get an opportunity. All those emotions kind of flooded back even just seeing him warm up on the mound. It was really cool; it was the first time I got to see him pitch in the big leagues, obviously, so a really cool moment for both of us."

"Obviously, a full circle moment, one we really, we dream of, you know, not too long ago. So, the fact that it's come full circle this quickly, it was a really cool moment for both of us."

"It was awesome to face him," added Loutos. "We both have had the same goal and we've had our own unique journeys along the way, but to have it come to fruition in a way that we got to face each other in the big leagues. It was pretty cool. Maybe the only cooler thing would be to have him playing behind me."

"If you would have told me four years ago that I'd be facing off against Caleb in the big leagues, I would have to say life has to be pretty good then."

"We had a really good team and we were playing really meaningful games," reminisced Durbin. "You know, throughout my entire career at WashU and at the time, those were the biggest games that I was playing. Now this year, these games (with the Brewers) are the biggest games that I am playing, but throughout the process, you know, those were just as meaningful at the time as these games are. So those really help you prepare for the big games."

Neither former Bear played in the second game of the series on Saturday, and while both played in the series finale on Sunday, they did not face off against each other from the mound and batter's box.

While their individual teams have different trajectories as they begin the final two months of the regular season, they both looked back fondly on their time spent in a WashU uniform.

"I am very, very, very, very proud of my time at WashU and being a WashU alum and a WashU Bear for life," Loutos recollected. "I think Coach Bloom is a very talented baseball mind, one of the best baseball minds that I have had the pleasure of working with. I just learned a lot about life through his process; even how he put the team before everything, and when you play for something bigger than yourself, it almost takes the pressure off."

'I just learned so much going through that program."

"I think Ryan will say the same thing pitching in the World Series, even though it's D3, that it was a huge deal for us and having those experiences to fall back on helps even at this level," Durbin reminisced. "A lot of people might not understand, but you know it doesn't really matter what level you play at; you're making a big deal about it because you work so hard to get to that point. And back in the day, the D3 College World Series was our real World Series that we're working for now, so it's really not that different and it's definitely prepared us for where we're at now."

"I can't overstate the impact that Ryan's and Caleb's success and accomplishments have had on our program's visibility, credibility, and its attractiveness to young, aspiring ballplayers who are high academic, but who also have big league dreams," Bloom expressed. "We are never going to apologize for wanting both high academics and wanting to recruit kids with big league dreams. And no young person out there should apologize for wanting both. Their success just shows that you can get a world-class education and have those dreams."

"For me, it has a deeper meaning coming from a D3 program to kind of help show that D3 athletics are very competitive," added Loutos. "I think Caleb and I are both trying to put WashU on the map to show that there are great athletes everywhere, and it doesn't matter where you go to school."

 
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