REDDING, Calif. - Simpson University men's baseball team will have its first pitch of the 2024 season at home against Eastern Oregon University on January 27th for a doubleheader. 

This will be the first Opening Day on Simpson's on-campus baseball field ever. 

Head Coach Dan Tating says, "It's exciting to host with a full facility and be able to play more games at home this year." 

Simpson will face a tough preseason schedule as they are set to take on a mix of Cascade and D2 opponents. This includes; Eastern Oregon (Jan. 27-28) Sonoma State (Feb. 2-4), Bushnell (Feb. 9-10), Chico State (Feb. 13), and Cal State Eastbay (Feb. 17-18). 

Conference is set to begin against Providence Christian on February 23-24, before hitting the road to SoCal and Arizona to take on Saint Katherine (Mar. 1-2) and Park-Gilbert (Mar. 8-9). 

Simpson returns to Redding to play a three straight home series that include a mid-week non-conference matchup against William Jessup (Mar. 12) followed by Embry-Riddle (Mar. 15-16) and University of Antelope Valley (Mar. 23-24). 

In the second trip to SoCal the Red Hawks square off against face La Sierra (Mar. 28-29), Vanguard (Apr. 3), and Westcliff (Apr. 5-6) before coming home to play Oregon Tech (Apr. 9) as they head into its bye week. 

Coming off its bye week a road contest against William Jessup on April 16th followed by its final home series against Benedictine University (Apr. 20-21). The senior celebrations will take place on April 21st. 

To round out the year the boys will head to Klamath Falls to take on Oregon Tech (Apr. 23) before postseason play begins on May 3rd down in Mesa, AZ. 

Simpson is looking to make another deep postseason run as they bring in 25 new faces. 

The pitching staff has padded its depth as they brought in 15 new arms, highlighted by flamethrowers Garrett Brogdon and Logan Boenker and another dependable arm in the form of Nathan Palacioz. 

On the position side of things, the Red Hawks added a power bat in Alex Tolbert and a cultural presence in Dominic Folks. 

On the flip side, Simpson will be returning a lot of key contributors from last year's squad.

They will return 2022 All-Conference Honorable Mention Eric Winchester who is in striking distance to break the school's all-time career wins and strikeout record.

2021 1st Team All-Conference selection Dylan Cabral will look to solidify the back end of the Red Hawks bullpen with newcomer Boenker. 

Two-time All-Conference Honorable Mention and Simpson career home run leader Logan Gomes will look to add to its record and be a big stick in the Red Hawks lineup. 

2023 1st Team All-Conference Utility selection Max Lopez will look to make a big impact as he transitions back to third base. 

2022 All-Defense selection Keelan Yagi will look to have a bounce-back year from an injury-plagued 2023 campaign as he looks to control the run game as he threw out a program record 21 runners on the bases in 2022. 

Along with bringing back starting middle infielders Kade Kupihea and Micah Kele, starting left fielder Brady Meeds, and right fielder Titus Sato. 

Coach Tating says this is an exciting year as the baseball program takes new heights as the field, team room, and culture come to fruition. 

"These guys enjoy being with each other. They have a lot of fun but they also know when to focus and lock it in. The team culture and chemistry are there for us to be successful."

Coach Tating is currently sitting at 97 career wins and is three wins away from reaching the 100-win milestone. 

With the new faces and returning firepower, the Red Hawks will look to be a force to reckon with in 2024.