After three challenging seasons, a sense of normalcy has returned for the Gophers baseball team.
"We had a full fall practice [for the first time since 2019]," coach John Anderson said. "The weather was fantastic. We were able to get back to basics and player development."
That's a vital ingredient for Anderson, who has a young roster for the second consecutive season. Twenty-three of the 38 players on the Gophers roster are first- or second-year players.
"Our roster is 90 percent different from two years ago," Anderson said. "We have a lot of inexperience on our roster. I like the new kids we had last season, and the group we brought in last fall has a lot of athletic ability and talent and is coachable."
The Gophers, coming off a 16-36 finish, open the 135th season in program history this weekend with four games in the College Baseball Classic in Surprise, Ariz. The Gophers will play UC Santa Barbara twice, including 6 p.m. Friday in their season opener, and Oregon State and New Mexico.
Anderson, who is in his 42nd season as the Gophers coach, said he is "encouraged by the culture of this team. I like what we've seen so far. The key for the young guys is how long their period of adjustment to Division I baseball is. We have to be patient, but I couldn't be happier with the effort the team has put in since fall."
The Gophers' inexperience will be noticeable on the mound. The top three starting pitchers in 2022 — who combined to start 38 of the team's 52 games — are gone, as are five of the top six in innings pitched.
Sophomore Tucker Novotny, who made one start and pitched 14 innings last season, is expected to start the season-opener against UC Santa Barbara. Redshirt sophomore George Klassen, who has pitched 7 ⅔ innings in his Gophers career after missing a season recovering from Tommy John surgery, is also expected to start this weekend.
"Neither has pitched much for us," said Anderson, who is the second-winningest active coach in Division I with 1,347 career victories [one behind Georgia Tech coach Danny Hall]. "But both pitched a full summer season last year."
Offensively, the Gophers have some returning experience in juniors Brett Bateman and Boston Merila. Bateman and Merila each appeared in all 52 games last season. Bateman batted .312 and led the team with 67 hits and 21 stolen bases. Merila batted .267.
"Position-wise," said Anderson, "I think we have good athleticism. I think we can do some things on offense. But the key for us starts with being more competitive on the mound. We have to throw strikes and play defense."
The Gophers will travel to Fort Myers, Fla., next weekend for a three-game series with St. Louis University. Then the Gophers return home for six games at U.S. Bank Stadium. Among those will be games with defending College World Series champion Mississippi, Vanderbilt and Hawaii as part of the Cambria Classic.
In all, the Gophers' 56-game schedule features 32 home games. The Gophers schedule features eight teams that were ranked or receiving votes in the final Top 25 poll last season.
"It's the first time in [program] history we've had that many home games," Anderson said. "Our schedule is tough. Playing a tough nonconference schedule prepares you for your conference schedule. Hopefully when we get to the Big Ten [schedule, which begins March 31], we'll be competitive."
