Inexperience has hampered the Saint Louis University baseball team for the past two years. But coach Bob Hughes looks for things to turn around this season. SLU has a good mix of youth and experience to go along with depth.

“We feel like we’re deeper than last year,” said Hughes. “We have a fewer amount of question marks right now.”

In 1998, which saw the Billikens post a 10-38 record, coach Bob Hughes had 18 players that were freshmen and sophomores. In 1999, where the Bills were 19-39, Hughes had 21 freshmen and sophomores.

Last year the question marks centered around the pitching staff. Hughes had only two returning pitchers, making the team dependent on newcomers for the bulk of the workload.

Pitchers

Junior college transfer Ryan Warnecke and freshmen Wes Jaillet and Ben Hutton racked up most of the innings for the Billikens, with each pitching over 60 innings.

Those three pitched the best for SLU. Warnecke won six games; Jaillet paced the staff with a 7.47 earned run average; and Hutton had the only winning record on the squad, going 4-3.

It was a case of baptism by fire for the trio. Hughes was not able to bring any pitcher along at a slow pace. He had to use any able arm.

“Again, we put them in the situation to set themselves up for failure,” Hughes said. All of the pitchers will tell you that last year they struggled.”

Hughes expects better output this season. In addition to last year’s threesome, Jeremiah Harrington, Dan Shouse and Brad Wehrfritz return with experience. Three freshmen-Jake Baumgartner, Dan Parker and Zach Placzek-and junior college transfer Torrey Lombardo join the staff and should provide some good innings.

“They’re all showing confidence and poise throughout the winter,” Hughes said. “The velocity on the fastballs is going up, the breaking balls are sharper and they’re throwing more strikes. “

Infield

Another area that has depth is the infield. Nick Steiner will anchor the defense. The second baseman committed eight errors in 55 games last year while hitting .353. He registered 79 hits and led the team with 57 runs batted in. Hughes feels that he could be an All-Conference USA performer.

“We expect him to step in where he left off last year and put up some good numbers,” Hughes said.

Brandon Shockley will move from shortstop to first base. The junior picked up 171 assists last season but also had 33 errors. Shockley was solid at the plate, batting .321 with 28 RBIs.

Junior college transfer Paul Miles takes over the shortstop position from Shockley. Miles, who played previously at Jefferson College, was a St. Louis Post-Dispatch All-Metro selection at St. Mary’s, where he hit .496 his senior year. Hughes anticipates him to be a “good glove man.”

Jim Bredenkoetter will play third base for the Billikens. He set foot on the diamond for only 11 games last year, being plagued by an injury. When he was in the lineup, he rolled up a .366 batting average with 15 RBIs.

Outfield

While the infield has a bulk of its players returning, the outfield doesn’t have that luxury. Last year’s starters-Jason Wood and Mark Campbell-have graduated. Nick Crocker skipped his last year of eligibility to pursue a professional career.

Brian Haddock switches from first base to the outfield. He was the Bills all-around player last season. He started all 58 games for the Bills, hitting .317 and committing only six errors.

“He was our most consistent overall performer last year. Offensively, he got the job done and drove in runs for us,” Hughes said. “We have solid defense with him moving out there.”

John McLaughlin and Kurt Evans will fill the other two spots in the outfield. They saw action last season primarily as designated hitters. Eric Constable will vie for a starting position as well.

Catchers

Adam Shea returns for his third year behind the plate. The senior caught 55 of 58 games for SLU and will handle most of the duties again. Currently, he’s rehabilitating an arm injury but should be back for the start of the season.

“He had a really nice offensive season for us last year. He’s improved behind the plate,” Hughes said.

James Hutton will be the backup for Shea. He saw some action as catcher and pitcher last season.

Hughes believes that for the Bills to be successful, a group of players needs to step up, like Wood, Crocker and Steiner did last year. Those three rebounded from a tough 1998 campaign to put up quality numbers. Hughes hopes that some of the underclassmen can do that this year as well.

“We’re really focused on being a team. Everyone is striving for the same common goal,” Hughes said. “We think we’re sitting on something real nice.”