A solid core group of returners join promising newcomers as the BYU baseball program aims to return to the West Coast Conference and NCAA tournaments in 2019.
Fourteen players return from 2018, including outfielder Brock Hale, first baseman Keaton Kringlen and pitcher Jordan Wood, each All-WCC honorees. In addition, 20 talented players joined the team this offseason; altogether head coach Mike Littlewood expects this year’s squad to be on the attack each of the 52 games on the schedule.
“We want to be aggressive but intelligent about it,” Littlewood said. “Eight out of nine guys can run in our lineup. We won’t necessarily double our steal attempts from last year, but we will look double out of the box, look to go first to third when we can, force the issue with outfielders, and challenge arms.”
Leading the way will be Hale who returns for his senior campaign after starting all 50 games last year and led the team with a .342 average, 67 hits, 40 runs, 31 RBIs, 15 doubles and seven stolen bases in addition to eight home runs and 22 walks. The Mesa, Ariz., native was All-WCC First Team last season and is a preseason All-WCC selection.
He’ll be joined in the outfield by sophomore Mitch McIntyre, who played in 46 games with 33 hits last season, and sophomore Danny Gelalich, recently returned from a mission to Texas who can throw an accurate 95 mph from centerfield and has the speed to match.
Kringlen will see time at first base as well as the outfield this year. A career .327 hitter, the Cedar City, Utah, native will provide leadership in the infield. At the opposite corner, senior Casey Jacobsen provides solid defense at third with sophomore transfer DJ McNew seeing time at the corner as well.
Sophomore Jackson Cluff, another returned missionary, will look to start at second base and in the middle of the lineup. Freshman Carson Matthews, who has already arisen as a leader on the team through preseason workouts, will start at shortstop. Catcher duties will be handled by junior transfer Abraham Valdez and senior Noah Hill with freshman Colton Easton earning some innings behind the plate after a solid fall.
On the mound, senior right-hander Jordan Wood will lead the Cougars. In 14 starts last year, Wood posted a 2.66 ERA and 63 strikeouts on his way to being named All-WCC First Team. Sophomore Drew Zimmerman, a 2018 Freshman All-American with five saves, 40 strikeouts and a 2.40 ERA in 45 innings, will move into the starting rotation. Rounding out the starting staff will be sophomore Justin Sterner who appeared in eight games last year.
Redshirt freshman Ryan Brady will bolster the staff in early March as he continues to rehab from Tommy John surgery. Top relievers out of the bullpen include seniors Bo Burrup, Riley Gates and Blake Inouye, and junior transfer Jarod Lessar and sophomore Easton Walker, also back from a mission.
The Cougars start the 2019 campaign with a three-game series against Northwestern starting Feb. 15. Utah Valley comes to Provo on March 5 for the home opener at Miller Park before BYU plays a four-game series the ensuing weekend against Milwaukee. In addition to the WCC slate, the Cougars will also welcome Pac-12 foes Oregon and Utah and will travel to play a three-game series at Washington and weekday contests at Cal, San Diego State and Utah.
“Our goal is to be top-four in the conference so we can get to the WCC Tournament and have a chance to qualify for the NCAAs,” Littlewood said. “We’re stressing to each player that we get one percent better every day; if we do that and get hot at the end of the year, we’ll see what happens.”