Photo by Photoworks Front Row (sitting left to right): Braeden Myhre, Andrew Cowden, Juehl Morman, Tyler Maeyaert, Brayden Ust, Ashton Rowe, Carter Kepler. Middle Row: Coach Michael Weiss, Jude Knudson, Jon Gruhot, Zachary Leibfried, Andrew Wallen, Talan Plante, Gavin Peterson, Coby Brownlee. Back Row: Coach Chace Pollock, Karson Rowe, Lincoln Graven, Ashton Blomberg, Ezra Maurice, Parker Schmitt, Manager Brady Brandl, and Coach Blake Schwartz.

The Marshall baseball team will be looking to some familiar faces to take a leap forward in 2023.

The Tigers put together a solid 2022 season, finishing 13-9 before falling to New Prague in the 2AAA elimination bracket quarterfinals.

“We had our ups and downs. We had some learning experiences with all these younger guys playing varsity for the first time and, we’ll be a lot better this year, just not having to talk through some of those things,” 10th-year Marshall head coach Chace Pollock said. “Mpt

The team did suffer some major losses over the offseason, however.

Connor Neubeck, whose 1.250 OPS was more than .200 points higher than the next highest Tiger’s, and Charlie Jacobson, whose 0.87 ERA and 0.84 WHIP were both team highs, will leave major holes in the Tiger’s lineup and rotation. Still, they have the talent to fill the gaps.

Tyler Maeyaert put together a solid junior year for the Tigers as both a pitcher and a batter. He’ll head Marshall’s pitching rotation this year after posting a 2.08 ERA last season and striking out 44 batters, both good for second on the team behind Jacobson.

As a batter, Maeyaert put together a .351 average and hit 12 doubles and a triple, putting him second on last year’s team in extra-base hits.

Lincoln Graven led the team in extra bases with 11 doubles, a triple and a home run. Alongside Neubeck and returner Talan Plante, Graven was one of only three Tigers to hit a homer last year and will look to improve on that number in his senior season. His 1.014 OPS was also second to Neubeck.

The main focus for this year’s team is going to be minimizing mistakes, Pollock said. Namely, the team needs to find ways to put the ball in play consistently after struggling with strikeouts last year.

Still, the team has plenty of players who are consistently able to reach base. In addition to Graven and Maeyaert, junior outfielder Coby Brownlee had a .450 on-base percentage last season, making him one of three returning Tigers to eclipse a .430 rate.

Andrew Wallen and Parker Schmitt round out Marshall’s returning starting pitchers from last year. While they both struggled with consistency at points, finishing with a 5.64 and 5.63 ERA respectively, they showed flashes of potential. Schmitt struck out 29 batters in 27 1/3 innings pitched while Wallen struck out 16 in 18 2/3 innings pitched. Wallen could also be a major contributor on the offensive side after batting .246 in his sophomore campaign.

While weather stopped the Tigers from getting out and practicing early in the season, Pollock doesn’t expect the team to be slowed down because of it in the long term.

“I don’t really ever think it’s too much of an excuse,” Pollock said. “Our kids have played baseball growing up their whole life. Once we start getting into a game and hit infield-outfield, do that, it’ll be a lot easier for us.

“Our first time on a baseball field is our first game, so I’m sure it’ll be a little bit different but, like I said, these guys played a lot of baseball and should be ready.”

Jonathan Gruhot, Zach Leibfried and Ezra Maurice round out the Tigers’ returning starters. The trio of infielders showed their ability last year but will look to take another step forward as they head into their senior season.

Gruhot’s 10 RBIs last season are third among returning players.

Leibfried, the team’s shortstop, batted .217 on the season and Maurice batted .133.

The Tigers have started their season 1-1 with a 14-1 season opener win over Luverne before falling 7-2 against New Prague.