SIUE Opens Baseball Season With Four-Game Series At Troy

"Our main focus early in the season is to find our identity and play fundamental baseball," SIUE Head Coach Sean Lyons said. "The quality of our opponents will force us to do so."

SIUE then returns home for its longest home stand of the season (10 games) featuring weekend series with South Dakota State and Omaha. SIUE will play a series at UIC before the Ohio Valley Conference season commences.

"We're a very versatile team with a lot of moving parts," Lyons said. "We'll use those five weeks to see what we have and how we can use everyone."

Lyons and staff are tasked with replacing 16 players from last season's 26-28 team which qualified for the OVC Tournament for the second consecutive season. SIUE will be without five position players who made at least 43 starts a season ago.

Gone are the top five hitters in terms of batting average, including mainstays in the lineup, Brennan Orf, Avery Owusu-Asiedu and Brady Bunten. The trio accounted for 142 of 315 runs batted in, or 45 percent. They also combined to hit 39 home runs, which made up 57 percent of the total home runs (69) hit by the Cougars.

SIUE's outfield will feature a mix of returners and newcomers. Transfer additions Zack Floyd (Louisiana-Monroe) and Gage Franck (Des Moines Area Community College) will see time in left field. Lucas Spence (Black Hawk College) will likely start in center while senior Drew Mize, who made 46 starts at second base in 2023 could also see time there. Kyle Ratliff, who started 45 games in right field last year and is the leading returner in home runs (11) and RBIs (36), will get the nod again.

Freshman Ryan Niedzwiedz will see time at third base as will sophomore Ethan Willoughby. Willoughby made 14 starts there as a true freshman and also will be the primary first baseman. Sophomore Chase Bloomer, who made 41 starts-all at shortstop, will be looked on again as the No. 1 shortstop. Mize, Niedzwiedz and junior transfer Mack Mitchell all likely will see time at second base. Aside from Willoughby, Floyd and sophomore Spencer Stearns could make starts at first base.

Redshirt junior John Stallcup, who has made 71 starts behind the plate in his career, will serve as the No. 1 catcher with junior transfer Josh Heyder, who was a junior college All-American, serving as the backup and primary designated hitter.

"We have a versatile group of position players," Lyons added. "Guys like Mize and Willoughby will give us lineup flexibility by playing multiple positions. Kyle Ratliff has all the tools to be big time run producer for us. We'll have some decent athleticism at the top of lineup as well."

Senior right-hander Tyler DeLong assumes the Friday night starter role. DeLong is the leading returner with a 5-5 record and 4.25 earned run average in 18 games and nine starts in2023. Junior Alex Rodriguez, sophomore Garrett Helsel, who was an All-Freshman pick last year, and Spencer Stearns will round out the starting staff for the first weekend.

"Having Tyler, who we relied on heavily last year, back to anchor the pitching staff should help our younger arms like Helsel and Stearns," Lyons said. "The key for our staff this year will be commanding the strike zone."

Left-hander Spence and right-hander Duncan McLaughlin will work at the back end of the bullpen. Returners Zeus Ponder and Jacob Kampf will be joined by newcomers Kyle Athmer and Liam McKillop as primary relievers.

The Cougars will open the season with a 4 p.m. start Friday before facing Troy twice on Saturday. The two teams will finish the series with a single game on Sunday.

"We are excited to get down to Troy and see where we stand and see what areas need to improve for us to have a successful season," Lyons said.