— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall’s new baseball coach Greg Beals had only two months to get to know his new team and prepare for it for the 2023 season.
The fruits of that quick work will be on display for the first time this weekend when the Herd faces St. Louis in a three-game series in Hoover, Alabama. The series starts at 3 p.m. Friday, with games also slated for 3 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
Beals was hired on January 5 after the vacancy was created when previous longtime coach Jeff Waggoner was fired in November 2022. The Herd finished with a 20-34-1 record in Waggoner’s final season, including 9-21 in Conference USA play in what marked Marshall’s final season in the league.
The 2023 campaign represents Marshall’s first in the Sun Belt Conference, and the league’s coaches have picked MU to finish 13th in a preseason poll, ahead of only Arkansas State. Southern Miss is the pick to win the conference.
Beals, previously head coach at Ohio State for 12 seasons and at Ball State for eight others, says he’s been impressed with the enthusiasm among Herd fans for the baseball program.
“The astounding overwhelming theme to me this first month is community,” Beals said “The sense of pride that’s here in Huntington that revolves around Marshall University and our athletic department has been really cool. The people have been great and very welcoming. I’m excited to be a part of something that people care so much.”
Much of that fan enthusiasm comes from the continued construction of Marshall’s new baseball stadium along the Ohio River just north of Joan C. Edwards Stadium.
That new facility is scheduled to open in spring 2024.
There are a lot of new faces on the 2023 roster, which features 26 newcomers and 13 returners. Beals believes a strength will be the pitching staff.
Key members of that staff include junior Patrick Copen and junior Zac Addkison, who each threw 63 1/3 innings in 14 appearances with 11 and 10 starts, respectively. Addkison is the returning strikeout leader with 70, while Copen wasn’t far behind with 65.
Redshirt senior Raymond Pacella, who recorded a 3.60 ERA in three starts, will assume an expanded role in 2023.
Senior Ryan Capuano looks to be the team’s stopper at the back of the bullpen after recording two saves in eight relief appearances in 2022. He also made eight starts last season and struck out 59 batters in 52 1/3 innings across 16 appearances.
“We have some high-end stuff on our pitching staff,” Beals said. “Copen, Pacella and Addkison will be our starting pitchers opening weekend in that order. Capuano will be the backend of the bullpen. If we have the lead in the last couple of innings, you can expect to see Cap into the ballgame and finish it. The thing we’re harping on is to pitch more efficiently and trust their stuff to throw more strikes and pitch deeper into ball games. We’ll make our pitching staff better if we can get those guys to eat up innings to shrink the rest of the game and shrink everyone else’s roles.”
Marshall’s offense will be led by senior outfielder Luke Edwards. Edwards had a solid 2022 eason that saw him reach base in all but one game. He tallied a 61-game on base streak from the 2021 season until the third-to-last game of the 2022 campaign.
The all-Conference USA first-team honoree finished first in C-USA in hits per game at 1.53, 88th in the nation with 84 hits and 10th in C-USA with 137 total bases.
Beals understands his squad could struggle early, but he likes the Herd’s scrappiness and is preaching patience.
“There’s going to be growing pains even within the season with the goal of being at our peak to play during the conference tournament at the end of season,” Beals said. “What I have learned about these guys is that they’re hungry. They want coaching. They want to get better. They want to play good baseball. That’s what I’m fighting hard to keep providing them, right, wrong or indifferent, a different brand of baseball is what I’m trying to teach them. A brand of baseball that I’m comfortable with and a style of baseball that my experience tells me we’re going to have success in the long run.”
Marshall stays on the road next weekend for a three-game series with Charleston Southern. The home opener is March 3 when the Herd hosts St. John’s the first of a three-game series at the Kennedy Center north of Huntington.