DOVER, Del. --- The Delaware State baseball team will open its regular season at The Citadel this weekend and as the Hornets enter 2023, they will do so as members of a new league for the first time in program history after joining the Northeast Conference (NEC) during the offseason.
 
Head coach JP Blandin who is in his 23rd year as the longest tenured head coach in program history, was asked about joining the NEC after parting ways with the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and stated "I first need to thank the MEAC for the part they played in helping us find a home that still gives a chance to play for a bid to the NCAA Tournament. Playing in the NEC gives us a chance to create new rivalries against teams we haven't played before while still maintaining the rivalries we established during our longtime membership of the MEAC."

Blandin was honored as the 2022 MEAC Coach of the Year for Baseball last season.
 
As Delaware State embarks on this new journey, they will do so with 16 upperclassmen from last year's squad led by the 2022 MEAC Player of the Year Trey Paige. Krew Bouldin, Brady Daniels and Alec Rodriguez accompany Paige as returners of the starting lineup in the field while Peter Carreca, Zachary Dale, Hiram Davis, Jordan Haddaway, Evan Harris and C.J. Loper highlight the returning members of the pitching staff from one year ago. Freshman mound takers Jack Messmore and Nathan Vidmar have caught the eyes of their teammates and coaches in the offseason and will look to make their presence felt during their respective freshman seasons.
 
Bouldin, the everyday first baseman from one year ago, led the Hornets in walks after drawing 39 free bases. Daniels who served as the designated hitter in 2022 collected 22 hits last year highlighted by five doubles. Rodriguez was tabbed as the primary left fielder in his freshman year starting in 43 games and finished his first collegiate year fifth on the team in total at-bats (141) with a batting average of .255. As he hit nine doubles and three home runs, he earned a .383 slugging percentage at season's end.
 
Carreca (48.1 IP), Haddaway (50.1) and Harris (46.0) not only headline the returning starting pitchers from 2022 but combined for a total of 144.2 innings pitched. Carreca who was an All-MEAC First Team SP selection last year finished with a 3-2 record and an ERA of 4.28. Haddaway tallied the most innings as well as most starts (12) of the three while notching 45 strikeouts. Harris led the team in punch outs during his sophomore campaign after sitting down 59 batters. Loper comes back for one more year looking to maintain the momentum he established last year as the primary closer recording a team-best six saves.  
 
Carreca spent some time discussing the pitching staff ahead of this weekend's opener and said "Heading into the NEC this year, it gives a chance to showcase our new pitching staff. Coming back with myself, Evan and Jordan from last year along with Hiram, Zach, and C.J. is crucial, it really is. We're all coming back with that same mentality of 'unfinished business', we obviously want to win but we know what it takes to get to that next level, and we've put the work in and believe we're going to get there this year. However, the freshman on this team have that same mindset, Jack (Jack Messmore) and Nathan (Nathan Vidmar) have come in, done the work and really set the tempo of the younger side of the pitching staff and it'll be exciting to see them in game action."
 
Joining the 2023 Hornets dugout this season is a mixture of incoming freshman and junior college transfers who have already opened the eyes of the coaches and members of last year's team. Paige was asked about the state of the team heading into this weekend's series and said "The junior college guys who transferred in have a lot of quality experience and the freshman that came in have an understanding that the work needs to be put in and we (returners) made it clear in the offseason of how close we came last year and that this season is a sense of 'unfinished business' and everyone's been on board from day one."    
 
The incoming freshman class is highlighted by Joey Current, Nick Gnardellis and Brendan Timmons add depth behind the dish. Evan Bouldin will be joining his older brother in the infield alongside transfers Jancarlos Colon and Chris Amparo. A stacked outfield led by Rodriguez, Myles Eaddy and Jordan King will be accompanied by junior college transfers Wilfredo Mendez and Kodai Yaoita.      
 
Coach Blandin offered his thoughts on the dugout ahead of the new season and stated "It's going to be a challenge as we make our way into a new conference, but one thing's certain and it's that the team culture is at an all-time high. This team not only believes that they can win and continue to improve and move forward; but more importantly, they believe in each other and they have each other's back. They're always putting each other first and really playing for one another. Everyone put in a lot of good work over the break, with the start of the new season being as close as it is, we're excited to just get things going on opening day."
 
Delaware State opens 2023 with a three-game series at The Citadel starting Friday. Friday's and Saturday's games are both slated for a 3 p.m. first pitch with Sunday's matinee set to start at 12 p.m. Live coverage links for each game are below.

 
Friday
Live Stats – https://citadelsports.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary
Live Video (ESPN+) - https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/332a9b64-06d7-456b-977c-b10170206fed
 
Saturday
Live Stats - https://citadelsports.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary
Live Video (ESPN+) - https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/332a9b64-06d7-456b-977c-b10170206fed
 
Sunday
Live Stats - https://citadelsports.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary
Live Video (ESPN+) - https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/332a9b64-06d7-456b-977c-b10170206fed