SHERMAN, Texas - The Austin College baseball team heads into the 2024 campaign looking to build off of a season in which they went 6-31 overall, but showed plenty of flashes to instill optimism going into the new year under head coach Shawn Counts.
Counts and the 'Roos will be looking to their returning infield to provide much of the offensive spark this season, with sophomore Tripp Thoms back after making an immediate splash in his first collegiate season, leading Austin College with 36 hits while batting .252 with seven doubles and 12 runs batted in. Mason Woodhouse also returns to bolster the infield both offensively and defensively, coming off of a campaign in which he batted .276 with five doubles, a triple, two homers, and 17 RBI.
Austin College also returns catcher Greg Smith, who was named the team's most valuable player last season in his first year with the program after batting .290 with four doubles and eight RBI, as well as Scott Hosmer, who, along with Woodhouse, is a former All-Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference performer. Last season, Hosmer collected 22 hits and knocked in seven runs. Brandon Hill also returns in the outfield for the 'Roos, coming off a season in which he led Austin College with 25 RBI and 10 doubles, adding two triples and a pair of home runs.
Jake Trapani, another former All-SCAC performer, is back as well after finishing fourth on the team with 30 hits, including five doubles, a triple, a home run, and 17 runs batted in, while Asher Thompson, Ashton Cason, Nick Griffin, Ryan Padfield, and Christian Kyser also bring plenty of experience as returners to the lineup for Counts. Thompson finished among the team leaders with 12 runs batted in, adding four doubles, while Cason, Griffin, Padfield, and Kyser each scored five runs a year ago.
Trystan Mallory will lead the pitching rotation in the upcoming season after an All-SCAC sophomore season in which he picked up a pair of victories and logged 55.2 innings in 12 appearances, including eight starts. Mallory had a 4.37 earned-run-average while striking out 53 batters, compared to just 23 walks issued.
Trapani, who was an All-Conference pitcher as a freshman, will once again be called upon to bolster the pitching staff after finishing the 2023 season with a 4.09 ERA, and Zack Czarnecky made 12 appearances on the mound last year. Joe Potter is expected to make a jump this year as well as he enters his sophomore season, after pitching in 12 games a year ago and striking out eight batters in 10.1 innings of work.
Austin College also welcomes in a large group of newcomers, including both transfers and freshmen, with 16 new faces set to make their debuts for the 'Roos when the team opens the season on February 13 at Arlington Baptist. The 'Roos will take on the Patriots for a doubleheader slated to begin at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday.