The Bears begin their season on Saturday, February 17 against Centenary College. (Clara Richards | Student Life)

Baseball is a streaky and superstitious sport — sometimes, all a team needs to improve off of a previous season’s results is a chip on its shoulder. 

Last year, the Washington University baseball team made a strong argument for a return to the NCAA baseball tournament for the first time since its 2021 College World Series appearance. After winning 10 of 11 crucial games towards the end of the regular season, WashU traveled to Atlanta to face Emory University. Win the series, and the Bears have a real shot at being considered for an at-large tournament bid. Lose, and the season is over. 

Emory, and subsequent opponents Webster and Dubuque, got the best of the Bears. WashU missed the tournament for a second consecutive year, a heartbreaking end to a relatively successful 2023 season. 

“We lost too many games last year,” sophomore shortstop Shane Pellegrino said, bluntly. “And I really don’t like that.” 

While WashU missed the postseason, the building blocks for a sustainable winning future seemed to be in place. Led in the stat sheet by Pellegrino and junior Brandon Buday at the plate — and juniors Will Henkel and Sebastian Guzman on the mound, plus an influx of young arms — WashU baseball is young and hungry this season. 

Key Departures and New Additions 

The Bears will be without the services of three key contributors from last year’s team. Kyle Coates led WashU with five saves last season — the now-graduated senior also had the lowest earned run average out of any member of the 2023 Bears’ pitching staff. Additionally, Broghan O’Connor contributed consistent production as a regular in the Bears’ lineup, and captain Hunter Goldberg provided key leadership from behind the plate. As the Bears fell short of the tournament last season with Coates, O’Connor, and Goldberg, WashU will have to find its production from other sources. 

To help offset the loss of O’Connor, the Bears’ offense will be bolstered in 2024 by the addition of two graduate transfers. New third baseman Evan Minarovic was a two-year starter at the hot corner for Northwestern, often batting cleanup for the Big 10 ballclub. The Bears will also add outfielder Sam Polk from Saint Louis University, likely to be penciled into O’Connor’s center field spot on Opening Day.

“Both of those guys are really, really talented and well-versed in the game,” Pellegrino said. “Their additions are definitely going to help us get over the hump.”  

The Bears’ pitching staff has been bolstered by a number of new first-years. (Clara Richards | Student Life)

Pitching Staff

On the mound, WashU will be led by experienced starters and a young bullpen. The Bears’ three primary starting pitchers — Henkel, Guzman, and sixth-year graduate student Matt Lopes — are all well-versed in UAA competition. The Bears are expecting a big year out of Henkel, who was the Bears’ best starter last year. The left-hander from Cincinnati held opponents to a .242 batting average and was named to the All-UAA First Team in 2023. Lopes will reclaim his spot in the rotation from 2023, after previously being a lockdown arm out of the Bears’ bullpen during his undergraduate years. 

Lopes’ experience will be invaluable on such a young pitching staff, where WashU will rely on seven first-years whom Pellegrino describes as having “big-time arms.” The Bears cast a wide net, recruiting from as far as California and Florida to fill out the bullpen. Among the seven, St. Louis-area recruit Parker Guthrie and Nashville’s Townsend Stevenson may have a particularly large role this year. Both are big right-handed pitchers with fastballs that top out in the mid-90s, and they are expected to contribute to the Bears from the get-go.

“Last year, we were able to put up a lot of runs, but we struggled at limiting our opponents,” Pellegrino said. “[Guthrie and Stevenson] are two guys who are going to make an instant impact.” 

Position Players

Entering the 2024 season, WashU’s biggest strength will be the depth of its lineup. Last year, eight players hit above a .300 batting average, all of whom are returning to the Bears this season. Senior captain Clayton Miller will spend most of his time in the infield, although he has provided 67 innings on the mound for the Bears over the last three seasons. The Second Team All-UAA recipient brings a power bat and will look to replicate his success from last season, where he led the team with eight home runs and recorded a sweltering 1.019 on-base plus slugging.

Miller will be joined in the heart of the Bears’ lineup by Texan shortstop Pellegrino, who received an All-UAA First Team nod after hitting .353 in his freshman year. Together with fellow sophomore and Houston native Chris Jacinto, who hit .324, WashU has one of the most formidable double-play duos in D3 baseball.

Sophomore outfielder Brandon Buday will once again be a threat both to get on base and on the base paths, as he led the team last season with a .355 batting average and was second with 18 stolen bases. Buday’s 16-game hitting streak in the back half of last season was a key driver in the squad’s success. Senior captains Harry Mauterer and Jack Miller will also find ways to contribute to the squad, whether in the line-up or key pinch-hit or pinch-run opportunities.

Along with Minarovic and Polk, the Bears’ lineup will be rounded out by a trio of upperclassmen: junior catcher Braden Mazone and senior outfielders Kaden Bernhard and Magnus Dunn.

Schedule

The Bears begin their season on Saturday, Feb. 17, traveling to Conway, Arkansas to face Centenary College and Hendrix College. Their late March matchup against the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse will likely be their biggest test of the season as their only matchup against a ranked team. WashU will also play a key series against Case Western Reserve University at the end of the year, a make-or-break series against the preseason UAA favorite. It will not be an easy road for the Bears, who know all too well that postseason fortunes can change in the snap of a finger. 

But the team remains optimistic, and playoff baseball has been a focus for the Bears throughout the offseason. And coming off of a 26-14 season, along with Emory and Case Western losing several key pieces, a UAA title feels within grasp for the Bears.

“I really want to win the UAA this year,” Pellegrino said. “Make a regional, host a regional, [it’s something] we’ve talked about a lot. We got this brand new field that’s just so amazing. And if we are able to host something like that and win and go to the World Series — yeah, I’d be so happy.”