EUGENE, Ore. – The third-year Bushnell University baseball program continues to set the bar high for themselves following another year of improvement.
 
Bushnell more than doubled its win total in year two, going 23-25 overall and 11-13 in Cascade Collegiate Conference action, to take fifth place in the conference standings. The Beacons won seven of their first eight conference games before winning just four games over the next four CCC series.
 
The Beacons saw plenty of year-over-year improvements outside of just the win column. After hitting .246 as a team in 2022, they improved to .278. A fielding percentage of .943 improved to .966 as went from 98 errors down to just 61. Most impressively, the team ERA dropped nearly two entire points, from 7.54 to 5.70 in just one year.
 
Third-year Head Coach Tommy Richards said, "Last year we sacrificed a lot of defense for offense. I think that was one of our pitfalls. We didn't play an action-oriented style of baseball last year so we want to be more defensive and run more. Last year, a strength of our team was from time to time we would really slug. That's good when guys are hot. Hopefully we continue to be able to smash but add some layers of scoring in different ways."
 
The Beacons slugged their way to one of their most memorable wins, coming back from a nine-run deficit to defeat the College of Idaho, 13-11. A school record five home runs were hit in the game, including four in one inning alone. The Beacons finished third in the conference in home runs with 49.  
 
Bushnell also earned its first-ever victory against an NAIA Top-25 ranked team last season, defeating No 16 Lewis-Clark State College in their hunt for a postseason appearance. The Warriors won the next three to take the final spot in the conference tournament before becoming the national runners-up.
 
"Our conference is such a gauntlet," said Richards. "It's such a good test and a great opportunity every weekend. The easy thing for us to do would be to look around the league and stack ourselves up and put these illusions in our minds of where we fit in. My biggest job this year is to remind the guys it's an evolution, it's about your maturity, your growth and your progress as a player. Take everything else out of it."
 
OUTFIELD
 
"The outfield is one of the groups we have challenged the most to have higher standards with defensive expectations rather than being guys that just want to hit. I'm interested to see who takes control and wins jobs."
 
Jordan Wilson, Noah Montoya, Jacob Richardson, Brendan Frazier, Dylan Carson and Caleb Richter all saw time in the outfield last season. Wilson made 43 starts in his second season with the Beacons, hitting .320 on the year and posted a team-leading 37 RBI. He went on a 12-game hitting streak to start the 2023 season.
 
Montoya was selected as a CCC Gold Glove recipient last season, committing just one error, while adding seven outfield assists. 
 
Carson played in 27 games before a late season injury, hitting .250 with five home runs. Frazier saw time in 26 games, while Richardson made 30 appearances, primarily in left field.
 
Richter played in nine games as a freshman, recording a triple as his first collegiate hit.  
 
Included in the group of outfielders are newcomers, Albert Jennings (Maple Valley, Wash.) and Isaiah Hart (Lake Zurich, Ill.), both who come in with collegiate experience. "Isaiah has been a newcomer that has a good attitude, works hard, and can hit," said Richards. "I've also been really happy with Albert and his attitude."
 
INFIELD
 
Returning to the infield are Jake Stoner, Liam Kerr, Dylan Martin, Cade Crist, Ethan Stacy, Reece Carganilla and Jameson Hussey. CJ Smith returns as a utility player.
 
Crist and Stacy impressed in their first season with the Beacons. Crist, a first baseman, made 42 starts, and hit .299 on the year, finishing with 11 home runs, the seventh-most in the CCC. Stacy started 47 games in the middle infield, recording a .294 batting average with 20 extra-base hits, while being a constant highlight reel on defense.
 
Carganilla had a strong sophomore season, hitting .256 in 29 games played, finishing with a .992 fielding percentage. He committed just one error on the year to earn the team Gold Glove Award.  
 
Kerr, Hussey and Stoner saw time in 20+ games. Smith played in 34 games and Martin appeared in 16 with both being utilized primarily as pinch runners.
 
Joining the infielders are freshmen Chase Nye (Grass Valley, Calif.) and Devin Sarkine (Mililani, Hawaii). Devin Carter (Lacey, Wash.), a utility player, joins the Beacons as a junior transfer out of the University of Antelope Valley.
 
CATCHERS
 
The Beacons have a strong group of leaders behind the plate, beginning with returners Brandon Reed and Kyle Casperson. Reed made 24 starts in his second season, hitting .272, while Casperson made 21 starts, coming off an offseason of recovering from injury.
 
This year's group of catchers also includes transfer Nate Stevens (Waunakee, Wis.) and freshman Dylan Kakuda (Spokane, Wash.).
 
"We have a very veteran group of catchers," said Richards. "Dylan Kakuda is a freshman, but the next youngest guy is three years older than him. Kyle and Brandon have caught a lot, Nate comes in from Washington State, and then Max is going to contribute. They are all good leaders."
 
PITCHERS
 
The newcomers to the pitching staff include, Max Chapman (Grain Valley, Mo.), Nate Rasmussen (Seattle, Wash.), Taiga Yamane (Ishikawa, Japan), Austin Wolfe (Beaverton, Ore.), Garrett Vohs (Sisters, Ore.), Marques Brown (Bellingham, Wash.) and Jacob Courtney (College Place, Wash.). Chapman, Rasmussen, Yamane, Vohs and Brown come in with collegiate experience, while Wolfe and Courtney are the freshmen of the group.
 
Returning are Kai Keamo, Daniel Furman, Colby Knutzen, Jayden Soriano, Ethan Paulson, Gregory Joe, Ethan Sachs, Alec Gums, Trevor Hammond, Blake Stavros, Colton Hamada and Adam Sabatino.
 
Sachs finished the year with a 5.00 ERA and led the Beacons with 50 strikeouts in his 12 starts. Sabatino also saw 12 starts and posted a 4.97 ERA with 30 strikeouts. Both finished among the top-10 in the conference in ERA. Gums and Paulson started in eight games apiece. Hammond was utilized as a long reliever, making 12 appearances with three late season starts.
 
Keamo made 15 appearances, while Soriano saw the mound 11 times. Stavros pitched in seven games his freshman season. Knutzen and Furman were critical pieces on the back end. Knutzen posted a 3.63 ERA with three saves and Furman finished at a 3.91 ERA with two saves.
 
"You want to be playing your best baseball at the end and we didn't necessarily do that," said Richards. "The pitchers didn't finish as strongly as they started but we also didn't really help the pitchers out much. When a few guys go down, you have to use them differently. We didn't always keep them in situations that are good for them, and we didn't care about defense enough. Those are hopefully things we can learn from this year."
 
SCHEDULE
 
Bushnell opens the 2024 campaign at Jessup University for a three-game series on Feb. 2-3. The Beacons head back to California the following week to take on Simpson University (Feb. 9-10) and will head to Tacoma, Wash. the next weekend to take on Pacific Lutheran University (Feb. 17) and Saint Martin's University (Feb. 18).  
 
The home opening series will take place on Feb. 23-24 as Bushnell hosts the University of British Columbia. They will be back on the road for another four-game non-conference series with the College of Idaho (March 2-3) before returning home to host Lewis-Clark State College (March 8-9).
 
Conference play begins on March 16 as the Beacons travel to Eastern Oregon. The Beacons play a four-game series with all six CCC teams, with home series against the College of Idaho, Corban, and Oregon Tech.
 
Bushnell will have a three-game series at Utah Valley University (March 22-23) following the first week of CCC play. The Beacons will also have a pair of non-conference games in the middle of CCC action against Linfield (April 2, April 23) with the second game against the Wildcats being a road game.
 
The CCC Tournament takes place on May 3-5.
 
"We need to focus on ourselves and see how much we can get better on a daily basis. Then we can just go compete and stop thinking about things we can't control," said Richards. "If we can do that, hopefully we'll win some games. It's more about our process and our growth than anything else."