UNO finished the 2022 baseball season with a 30-23 record, the Privateers' best showing under coach Blake Dean.
Only the COVID-shortened 2020 mark of 11-6 was better, percentage-wise, under Dean, who is entering his eighth season.
“We were really explosive, very, very offensive and really good defensively,” Dean said.
Dean begins this season with high hopes, he said, mainly because most of his starting pitching rotation has returned, and the Privateers' every-day lineup has been infused with promising talent and athleticism.
However, as UNO — which reached the NCAA Hattiesburg (Mississippi) regionals last season — opens its season Friday at Kennesaw State, Dean's concerns are right back where they were last season.
“Bullpen-wise, we just were a little lackluster at the end of games,” he said. “Our starting pitching did well, and our middle relief, Jack Williams (7-2), was big for us.
“We lost a lot of games at the end, didn't really have that closer to shut down games. We still don't have that guy who is set in stone.”
Zeff Hoffpauir, a transfer from UL, will get the first crack at the job, Dean said. Another possibility is starter Beau Blanchard, the winning pitcher in UNO's 9-4 win against LSU last season.
Dean said he likes the flexibility Blanchard would bring as a closer, not to mention the expected production in the team's key role for the season.
“If we don't start him, and it's Friday night and we have a one-run lead in the ninth (inning), we might see if Blanchard can close it out for one inning,” he said. “If we don't use him, we have the potential to start him on Sunday. So, we'll run out Hoffpower and Blanchard first and see what they can do.”
A rotation of ace left-hander Tyler LeBlanc (7-1), left-hander Brandon Mitchell and right-hander Collin Horton join Blanchard as starters. LeBlanc, at 6-foot-4, 195 pounds, finished in the top five of the Southland Conference in strikeouts with 74 in 70 2/3 innings.
“Having them back will give us a lot of consistency on the mound,” Dean said. “The keys to the season are staying healthy, finding the right offensive combinations and closing games.”
Last year's closer, Caleb Seroski, who had just three saves, is slated for a role as “a bridge guy through the sixth, seventh innings,” Dean said.
Five position starters also return. However, the batting order will be different than last year's, which featured Amani Larry (.370) and Pearce Howard (.356), who became the Privateers' career hits and RBIs leader last season.
Three newcomers in particular are being counted on to provide a boost and fill the void left by Howard and Larry: Myles Austin, who transferred from Wabash Junior College; Nathan Blasick, a transfer from West Virginia; and Mitchell Sanford, who came to UNO from Texas-Arlington.
Austin, who will be the starter in left field, began at Alabama. He hit .374 with 55 runs batted in and 63 runs in 66 games with Wabash last season.
“He's a gap hitter who is very quick and can steal bases,” Dean said. “Other than catcher, he can play any position on the field.”
Blasick, a junior, hit .271 at West Virginia last season and has 11 career home runs. Sanford began at LSU. So impressed is Dean with his talent that he is scheduled to bat cleanup.
“He played some as a freshman,” Dean said. “He's a good player. It's just that he's had injuries. He's OK now, but we'll see.
“Blasick hits with pop from the left side, and his left-handed bat will give us some versatility. He's a doubles/home run guy. He'll probably DH and play corner outfield.”
Austin in left, Issac Williams in center and Blasick in right give the Privateers a very athletic outfield, Dean said.
Shortstop Kasten Furr (.317 last season) will lead off the Privateers' lineup, with right fielder Blasick batting second. Catcher Miguel Useche (.288) will hit third, with Sanford fourth. Williams (.271) is slated for fifth with first baseman and last year's cleanup hitter, Anthony Herron Jr. (.226) sixth. Tyler Bischke (.294), switching to second base from shortstop after Tommy John surgery, will bat seventh, with third baseman Jeissy De la Cruz (.247) eighth and Austin ninth.
Last year, UNO went 18-10 at home, with 25 games on the road. This season, the Privateers have 29 road games, which includes two at Tulane, and 25 home games.
The Privateers' pre-conference schedule will feature series at Kennesaw State, LSU, Texas, and games March 1, March 29 and April 18 against Tulane. Then comes a Southland Conference schedule made brutal by games at long-distance opponents Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Incarnate Word and Lamar. UNO was picked to finish fourth in the Southland.