SAINT LEO, Fla. – The Saint Leo baseball program will open the 2020 season with three games at Steinbrenner Field, spring training home of the New York Yankees, this coming weekend. The Lions will face perennial power Columbus State Friday, Barton College Saturday and fifth-ranked Catawba on Sunday.
 
Head coach Rick O'Dette enters his third year at the helm of the Saint Leo program. After an impressive 38-11 campaign his first year, the Lions had an up and down season in 2019 finishing with a 25-25 mark. This season the team has hopes of returning the Lions to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in the O'Dette era and seventh time in program history. 
 
Senior Amir Wright tops the list of offensive returners after starting every game in which he has appeared at Saint Leo over the last two seasons. He posted a .320 batting average last year while driving in 21 runs and scoring 41. The Lions also expect senior Jacob Reimold to continue to grow offensively after an 11-home run season in 2019 that featured 31 RBI. Another returner who could make huge strides based on his offseason training is redshirt sophomore Paul Coumoulos, who started 22 games for the Lions last season.
 
On the mound, wins leader Joey Antonopoulos returns while starter and Preseason Second Team All-Region selection McCabe Sargent, who posted a team-best 69 strikeouts last season, also returns. Some other notable returners on the mound include redshirt junior Jeremy Peel, sophomore flame thrower Ruddy Gomez and senior Trevor Sanchez who spent part of last season as the closer.
 
The 2020 roster features a number of new faces including several NCAA Division I transfers. Some notable names who will be playing one season with the Lions is Minnesota Crookston transfer and left-handed pitcher Graeme Cherry, Long Beach State transfer and outfielder Jake Vander Wal and University of Houston transfer and third baseman Brett Esau. All three will make immediate impacts on the squad. Cherry made six starts for UMC last season and posted three victories. Vander Wal appeared in 39 games last season for LBSU while starting 25 games. Esau comes from a tough University of Houston program where he appeared in 14 games last season while batting .231. In his two seasons in JUCO he hit over .340 both seasons with 32 home runs over two seasons. A transfer with two years of eligibility left that could make a huge impact is junior Sam Crail who was a highly touted recruit out of high school who spent two seasons at Indiana University. He started 18 games for the Hoosiers last season while appearing in 26.
 
A few newcomer pitchers to keep an eye on are freshman Andy Booth out of Palm Harbor, Fla., and sophomore transfer Jestin Jones from Fort Myers, Fla. Booth is a lefty out of Palm Harbor University School while Jones joins the Lions after one season at Frontier Community College. Jones led Frontier in wins and strikeouts last season.
 
The 2020 roster features 24 returners and 18 newcomers including 27 underclassmen and 15 upperclassmen.
 
The Lions dropped three games at Columbus State last season by a total of five runs while the Lions hold a 1-0 record all-time versus Barton. Saint Leo and Catawba have met twice on the diamond with the Indians winning 8-7 in 2001 and the Lions taking a 11-0 decision in 2017.
 
The Lions will open the 2020 season this Friday, February 31 at 1 p.m. as they take on Columbus State at Steinbrenner Field.
 
For the latest news, updates, and information on the Saint Leo baseball team be sure to visit SaintLeoLions.com. Fans can also stay up-to-date on the latest Lions news by following Saint Leo Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.