HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University baseball program opens full squad workouts Friday at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field in preparation for the upcoming 2025 season.
 
Southeastern will host a pair of intrasquad scrimmages this weekend. The first pitch is slated for 11 a.m. Saturday and 2:45 p.m. Sunday at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field. All practices are free and open to the public.
 
The Lions are coming off their first overall winning record (30-28) in three seasons, having advanced to the semifinals of the Southland Conference Baseball Championships this past May.
 
SLU also set the program single-season record for home runs in Coach Bobby Barbier's first year at the helm and the Lions return six starting position players off last season's squad.
 
"We have some very talented players that may have to wait their turn," Barbier said. "That's good. It creates competition. I think more than any team I've had, we have competition across the board while having guys returning. Our lineup has a chance to consist of six to eight seniors at any given point. That's fun to have as a coach, guys that have been through the fire, know how are league is, know how to compete on the road and all the little things that take experience."
 
Leading the way are first-team All-Conference selection TJ Salvaggio, All-Tournament performer Jude Hall and Parker Coley. The trio combined for 37 of Southeastern's single-season record 86 home runs.
 
Salvaggio hit .291 with a team-high 13 homers and 42 RBIs. Hall launched 12 home runs, hitting .318 with 35 RBIs. The final conference hitter of the week winner, Coley hit .295 with 12 homers and 40 RBIs.
 
Also returning are starters Ryan Brome (.284) and Cole Stromboe (.314), along with the catcher duo of Conner O'Neal (.278) and Bailyn Sorensen (.236).
 
Key additions include DI transfers Logan Walters (Jacksonville State) and Ben Robichaux (UL Lafayette), JUCO transfers Brady McGee (East Central CC) and Giovanni Licciardi (Delgado CC), and two-time JUCO All-American Mo Little (East Central CC).
 
"I thought we had a great fall," Barbier said. "The guys came together and got to know each other. There are a bunch of new guys and it was good to watch them compete. We're very excited about the recruiting class we brought in. Our assistant coaches did a great job identifying the right guys for us, talented, like-minded and play like we want to play."
 
On the mound, SLU brings back ace and first-team All-Conference selection Brennan Stuprich (6-3, 2.87) to front the staff. Beyond Stuprich, the Lions only have a handful of experienced arms returning.
 
Dakota Lee (63.2 IP), Aiden Vosburg (50.0 IP), Lakin Polk (38.1 IP) and Southland Conference Freshman of the Year Larson Fabre (28.2 IP) are the only other arms returning with at least 25 innings pitched under their belt.
 
New to the staff are DI transfer Patrick Vienne (UL Lafayette) along with JUCO transfers Luke Barbier (Delgado CC), Blake Lobell (LSU Eunice), Nick Gisclair (LSU Eunice), Luke Lirette (Southwest Mississippi CC) and Tony Torres (El Paso CC).
 
"We have room to improve off last season," Barbier said. "Stuprich is our leader on the staff and he'll be ready to go on Friday nights for us. I think between some junior college guys that have some experience and some really talented young guys that have come in, we're really excited about the staff and who we'll run out there opening weekend."
 
Eleven of the Lions first 12 games are at home, including a four-game series with Lindenwood to open the season (Feb. 14-16). Southeastern's other weekend non-conference matchups are against Alcorn State (Feb. 21-23) and at Memphis (March 7-9).
 
Midweeks feature home games against Tulane (Feb. 19), UL Lafayette (Feb. 26), Southern Miss (Apr. 15) and South Alabama (May 6). Road trips include return trips to the previous four along with matchups at Ole Miss (March 4) and LSU (Apr. 29).
 
Conference action also opens in the friendly confines of Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field with Northwestern State coming to Hammond (Feb. 28-March 2). Other home conference series include McNeese (March 21-23), UIW (Apr. 4-6), UTRGV (Apr.17-19) and Lamar (May 2-4).
 
Southland road trips include Stephen F. Austin State (March 14-16), New Orleans (March 28-30), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (April 11-13), HCU (Apr. 25-27) and Nicholls (May 8-10).
 
The conference's top eight teams at the end of the regular season qualify for the 2025 Southland Conference Baseball Championship which will be returning to the popular Regional/Super Regional format. The two-week event starts with bracket play, May 15-18, hosted by the top two seeds. The following weekend, the top remaining seed will host the best-of-three championship series between the bracket winners.
 
DIAMOND CLUB / S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the baseball program are encouraged to join the Diamond Club. Lion baseball alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners.
 
All membership fees and donations to both the Diamond Club and S Club (baseball) are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern baseball program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or by visiting www.LionUp.com.
  
SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans are encouraged to follow the Southeastern Baseball social media accounts (@LionUpBaseball) on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to stay engaged with the program.
 
The latest updates are also available at www.LionSports.net and the Lions Gameday Experience app. Available for both Android and iOS devices, the Gameday app can be downloaded from the App Store and Google Play.