HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University baseball program opens fall practice Monday, looking to build off last season's Southland Conference regular-season title with an experienced pitching staff.
 
"In this new age of college baseball, we think experience matters," Coach Bobby Barbier said. "We have a good group coming in. They've been working hard this fall. Practice starts Monday, but in reality, they've put in work since returning to campus. The guys coming back have done a really good job of bringing the new ones along, letting them know what we expect out of them. It's been a good first six weeks since they've been here."
 
Entering his third season at the helm of the program, Barbier returns 25 players from this past spring's championship squad – including two-thirds of his weekend pitching rotation.
 
"Losing Brennan Stuprich is a tough one," Barbier said. "He will be tough to replace individually. We have some guys that can contribute, but it will be more strength in numbers."
 
The bulk of the returners are pitchers, led by local products Lakin Polk and Blake Lobell, along with Southland Relief Pitcher of the Year Brady St. Pierre.
 
"It has been fun to see those guys get better over the course of the last year and the early part of the fall," Barbier said. "With only a handful, the new guys coming in have been easy to get up to speed. You'll see some guys who had different roles last year, step into new roles this year. Getting Polk and Lobell back, who were weekend starters last year, is huge."
 
Returning to the pitching staff are Chase Ambrose, Luke Barbier, Larson Fabre, Nick Gisclair, Kaleb Howell, Dakota Lee, Luke Lirette, Blake Lobell, Lakin Polk, Carson Robb, Brady St. Pierre, Triston Todorowski, Nik Toups, Patrick Vienne, Harris Waghalter and Truitt Webb, along with redshirts Levi Shaffer, Quinn Smith and Jacob Thorn.
 
They will be joined by right-handers Logan Freche, Dalton Gray, Austin Minichino, Brady Schmidt and Owen Stempel. Three lefties – Dalt Davidson, Sawyer Simmons and Jordan Yalowsky – complete the staff.
 
New faces will be spread throughout the batting order as only a handful of position players return for the Lions – Giovanni Licciardi, Mo Little, Ben Robichaux, Dane Watts, Peyton Woods and redshirt Tre Brown.
 
"I do want to play more this fall and get more at bats," Barbier said. "I think we have the number of pitchers to do that. It's important for these guys to get as many at bats as they can."
 
Newcomers include Brody Capps, Rhett Centanni, Connor Cuff, Josh Henson, Dom Jackson, Jacob Keys, Brock Laird, Gavin Panks, Alex Perry, Blaise Priester, Preston Scott and Brooks Wright.
 
"We're fairly simple when it comes to what we want out of it," Barbier said. "The first six weeks are all about player development before we transition to competition. Being able to play games later in the fall is fun and we look forward to that. First, though, it's getting to learn your players. We meet them where they are, as far as what they can do on a baseball field, then go out and compete hard against the guy next to you."
 
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 the 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.