Jack Lausch

Jack Lausch (born January 26, 2004) is an American baseball center fielder and former college football quarterback, currently in the Cincinnati Reds organization. He attended college at Northwestern, where he played for the Wildcats football and baseball teams.

Early life Lausch attended Brother Rice High School in Chicago, Illinois. For the Crusaders, he was a three sport athlete where he played baseball, basketball and football. In baseball, he was ranked the number one outfielder in the state of Illinois and the number 23 outfielder in the country by Perfect Game. In June 2021, he committed to play baseball at Notre Dame and was granted a preferred walk-on spot for football. In December, Lausch later committed to Northwestern once he was offered a football scholarship. As a senior, he threw for 2,447 yards and 20 touchdowns and rushed for 1,084 yards and 21 touchdowns. Coming out of high school, Lausch was rated as a three-star recruit.

College career Football As a freshman in 2022, Lausch made his collegiate debut in the season finale against Illinois. He completed four of eight pass attempts for 68 yards and an interception.

In the 2023 season opener against UTEP, Lausch scored his first collegiate touchdown on a 6-yard run. On the season, he played in ten games where he completed two of his three passes for ten yards, while rushing 19 times for 80 yards and a touchdown, and hauling in two receptions for nine yards.

In 2024, Lausch lost the starting quarterback competition to Mississippi State transfer Mike Wright. After a 1–1 start, Lausch was named the starting quarterback. In his first collegiate start against FCS foe Eastern Illinois, he threw for 227 yards and two touchdowns and rushed seven times for 62 yards in a 31–7 win. Against Purdue, Lausch threw a game-winning touchdown pass in overtime to lead the Wildcats to victory. On the season, Lausch accounted for nine total touchdowns across ten starts.

In 2025, Lausch competed with freshman Ryan Boe and graduate transfer Preston Stone for the starting quarterback position. In July, Lausch announced he left the football program to focus on his baseball career.

Baseball In 2021, Lausch committed to play baseball at Notre Dame before switching to Northwestern on a football scholarship. In Lausch's first three years at Northwestern, he focused solely on football. In 2025, Lausch joined the Northwestern baseball team. On February 14, 2025, in the season opener against Long Beach State, Lausch recorded his first collegiate hit and an outfield assist. On March 30, Lausch hit his first two collegiate home runs against Maryland in a three hit performance. On May 11, Lausch began a three game stretch where he hit home runs against Ohio State, Valparaiso and UCLA. Against Valparaiso, Lausch was a career high 4-for-4 at the plate. His home run marked Northwestern's 67 of the season, which set a program record. On the season, Lausch appeared in 44 games (43 starts) in centerfield and drove in 28 runs while adding 15 extra base hits.

After going undrafted in the 2025 Major League Baseball draft, Lausch played collegiate summer baseball for the Williamsport Crosscutters of the MLB Draft League.

Lausch returned in 2026 and led the Wildcats in games played, plate appearances, runs scored, hits, triples, home runs, RBI, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, and total bases. He started all 52 games and finished the season with 52 runs scored, 63 hits, 13 doubles, four triples, 16 home runs, 41 RBI, and a .312 batting average. For his performance, he earned third-team All-Big Ten honors.

Professional baseball career Lausch was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 17th round of the 2026 Major League Baseball draft.

Career statistics College football Season Team Games Passing Rushing 2022 Northwestern 1 0 — 4 8 50.0 68 8.5 0 1 96.4 6 –3 –0.5 0 2023 Northwestern 10 0 — 2 3 66.7 10 3.3 0 0 94.7 19 80 4.2 1 2024 Northwestern 10 10 3–7 159 296 53.7 1,714 5.8 7 8 104.8 87 213 2.4 2 Career 21 10 3–7 165 307 53.7 1,792 5.8 7 9 104.4 112 290 2.6 3

College baseball Season Team 2025 Northwestern 44 177 149 30 40 9 0 6 28 5 2 14 56 .268 2026 Northwestern 52 234 202 52 63 13 4 16 41 8 2 25 65 .312 Career 96 411 351 82 103 22 4 22 69 13 4 39 121 .293

Personal life His father John played linebacker at Harvard. He is a former American attorney who served as the United States attorney for the Northern District of Illinois from 2017 to 2023. Previously, he served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Illinois from 1999 to 2010. His mother Mary played volleyball at both Wright State and Loyola.