The Saint Louis University baseball team kicks off a new season this weekend with a three-game series in Nashville, Tenn., against Belmont University.
Baseball coach Darin Hendrickson is in his first year at the helm for the Billikens, after having success at every previous stop he had made. Hendrickson is originally from St. Louis and started his coaching career at Fontbonne University when he was 25.
“I stayed [at Fontbonne] four years and then went to Forest Park Community College, where I was the head coach and athletic director,” Hendrickson said. “I am trying to get this program headed in the right direction.”
One of Hendrickson’s first steps in leading the team in the right direction was offseason conditioning.
“We had a really good offseason; we worked on getting stronger and more explosive,” Hendrickson said. “We started practice in January, fighting the weather.”
With the addition of Hendrickson as head coach, junior pitcher Dave Sever said he noticed a considerable difference in preseason preparation this year compared to previous years.
“[Hendrickson] came in, and now we work about 10 times harder when we’re not on the field,” Sever said. “We have been doing a lot of running and conditioning, and we have worked on implementing our own style of play.”
Sever said he expects the younger guys to step up. With 13 seniors lost to graduation, nearly all of last year’s pitching gone and an entirely new outfield, the Bills will look to the younger players to gain valuable experience.
“We are a young team this year, but we have a good work ethic, and we hope that will help us build for the future,” Sever said.
Hendrickson said SLU’s Atlantic 10 road schedule will be tough. The Billikens will play three of the top-four teams in the conference on the road, in Charlotte, Richmond and St. Bonaventure.
“We inherited a lot of our schedule this year, but we were able to make a few adjustments,” Hendrickson said. “Our first three weeks are on the road, so we will be ready to roll.”
Heading into the season, spots in the lineup are still up for grabs.
“It is going to be down to the wire,” Hendrickson said. “This weekend, we will be using a lot of different lineups. It will take some adjusting, since we haven’t actually seen them play yet.”
After the Belmont series, the Bills play an exhibition game against the St. Louis Cardinals in Jupiter, Fla., on Wednesday, Feb. 27.
“We got a lot closer as a team in preparing for the season,” Sever said. “We have great team chemistry. And if we can stay together all season long, then we will have a better chance of winning.”
