Rock Hill, S.C. - Winthrop is set to start the 2025 baseball season this Friday afternoon with game one of a three-game series with Merrimack. The series marks the end of a long offseason and the start of a new era of Winthrop baseball that features new leadership and a largely new roster.

The Eagles return 13 players and welcome in 27. The team is set to embark on a new season with a lot of momentum since the hiring of head coach Mike McGuire this past summer.

McGuire returns to the Winthrop baseball program after serving as head coach at USC Upstate the last five seasons. This marks McGuire's third stint with the Eagle program as he spent 12 seasons as an assistant coach from 1997-2002 and again in 2006-11.

"Very excited to go out and compete with this club. We've covered a lot of ground since the school year started this fall. We've improved immensely since the start of the fall and I believe this group has a high ceiling," McGuire said. "I believe we have a talented pitching staff with a lot of good options. Positionally, I like our group, and I like how much we've improved, and we will continue to improve.

Since McGuire's hire in June of 2024, there has been immense energy and a buzz within the program that has not been felt for a long time.

"It's been very gratifying watching this group transform over the course of the last six months and I'm excited to get out there and go compete with this group over the next four months," says McGuire. "The expectations are very high. We believe in the locker room that this team can be in a regional come June."

Winthrop was picked to finish sixth in the 2025 Big South Baseball Preseason Poll after finishing eighth last season with a 19-29-1 (8-15 Big South) record.

FACILITY CHANGES/UPDATES

A significant part of the resurgence of the Eagle baseball program has been major upgrades to the stadium-both on the field and off it.

The Eagles turfed home plate, foul territory behind home plate and the baselines. This move now saves a large amount of time and money for the assistant coaches and potentially even players and others working within the program when it comes to maintaining the field.

The program has put a strong emphasis on technology. This became an instant reality with the installation of Trackman and are currently installing AWRE.

The Eagles also made major renovations to the stadium. They installed a brand new "Winthrop Baseball" sign out in front of the facility; painted the offices, weight room and locker room; installed a new state-of-the-art weight room and put several signs and banners with graphics inside and outside of the facility.

Perhaps the most impressive accomplishment in the off-season was setting a record for season tickets sold. Reserved Season Seats sold for $80 while General Admission Season Tickets were $50. The game against South Carolina on Feb. 18 and a two-game series with 2022 College World Series participant Notre Dame from March 11-12 will be the highlight of the home schedule. With the biggest home games on the schedule occurring very early on in the season, the record for season tickets sold was achieved at a rapid rate.

WINTHROP ATHLETICS, FOUNDERS FCU EXPAND PARTNERSHIP
Winthrop University Athletics and Founders Federal Credit Union (Founders FCU) announced on Jan. 31 an expanded integrated partnership with a $1.5 million investment over five years.

The agreement includes the naming rights of the ballpark to Founders Field and $500,000 earmarked for turfing the infield.

The stadium opened in 2001 as The Winthrop Ballpark and was referred to as such for 24 seasons.

STAFF CHANGES
Tim Perry, Mike Napolitano, Ryan Miller and Dan Gueldner are joining the Winthrop Baseball coaching staff.

Perry joined the Eagles as the recruiting coordinator/pitching coach while Napolitano is the hitting coach/catching instructor. Perry came to Rock Hill from Coastal Carolina, where he served as the director of player development and analytics for the past three seasons.

Napolitano came to Winthrop after three seasons as an assistant coach for the Babson College baseball program in 2023-24. He helped the Beavers to a 48-33 overall record in his first two seasons, coaching eight players who earned All-Conference honors, six who received All-Region accolades and one All-American.
 
Miller was hired as the director of pitching development and Gueldner is the director of player development.

Miller joins the Garnet and Gold after serving in the same position at Big South rival Longwood last year. Miller played for the Lancers for one season as a graduate transfer in the spring of 2023.

Gueldner joined the Eagles after serving as the director of baseball operations with Big South rival USC Upstate last season. He previously had interned with the Spartans during the 2023-24 off-season as well as helping with operations at Cleveland S. Harley Park.

PITCHING
Winthrop returns and welcomes several key relievers. One of the newcomers in the pitching unit is senior Quinton Hall, who comes in from Eastern Kentucky University. As a junior last season, he appeared in 17 games and struck out 21 batters in 17 innings of work. As a sophomore in 2023, Hall did not allow a run in 19 of his 25 appearances and limited opponents to a .175 batting average. Then as a freshman in 2022, Hall saw action in 24 games as a true freshman; struck out 17 in 11 innings of work and allowed only four earned runs in his first 23 appearances of the season.

Another key newcomer is sophomore Randy Guzman, a transfer from Central Connecticut State University. In his lone season at CCSU in 2024, Guzman appeared in nine games and made three starts, recording 11 strikeouts in 18.0 innings. His best game was a start at Quinnipiac (3/12), tossing 4.1 innings with five strikeouts.

Guzman is joined by sophomore Brayden Gilley, who comes from Houston Christian University. He appeared in eight games with one start, recording five strikeouts in in 8.0 innings.

Junior Harrison Wilson is one of the key relievers to return for the Eagles in 2024. Wilson started in nearly all the 49 games that the Eagles played last season. He started in 45 of 47 games he played in and pitched three games in relief, the only Winthrop offensive player on the season to do so. Wilson pitched a season-high 4.0 innings with 10 strikeouts and one walk at Queens (2/27) and offensively had a season-high five RBI's vs. USC Upstate (4/6). Wilson will also play infield as well.

Senior Lance Wade comes off last year having played in 13 games. Wade pitched a season-high 4.2 innings with six strikeouts vs. Charlotte (4/23), ultimately going 1-1 in 2024.

Graduate student Connor Harris played in six games in 2024. He pitched a season-high 2.2 innings vs. South Carolina (5/7) and struck out a pair of batters and didn't allow a walk vs. Charleston Southern (5/16). His performance against the Buccaneers resulted in him picking up his first victory in an Eagle uniform.

Redshirt sophomore Shane Keup played in three games last year. Against Charleston Southern (5/16), he pitched a season-high 4.0 innings, striking out five batters and giving up three hits and one walk. This was his first year coming on in relief after not seeing any action in 2023.

Sophomore Walker Brodt played in four games in 2024. His best outing was vs. Toledo (2/25), pitching two innings with a strikeout and a walk. He also didn't allow a hit in relief at Clemson (3/19).

Junior Grant Shepherd played in six games last season. He played a season-high 2.0 innings and issued zero walks vs. The Citadel (4/10).

Sophomore Joey Hylinski also returns to the Eagles in 2025. Last season Shepherd played in eight games and got his first win in an Eagle uniform vs. The Citadel (4/10), pitching a season-high 2.0 innings. He also issued a season-low zero hits and walks at Presbyterian (4/13).

Sophomore Owen Sarna was named to the 2025 Big South Conference Preseason All-Conference Team. Sarna is coming off a freshman campaign in which he was named to the 2024 Big South Conference All-Freshman Team. He finished 9th in the Big South in overall pitching with an ERA of 4.74. His most notable performances last season were pitching a season-high 6.0 innings vs. Longwood on Mar. 17 and a season-high six strikeouts vs. Maine on Mar. 3.

Sarna ended 2024 having pitched 49.1 innings with a record of 4-4 in 13 games played. He was 2nd on the team in ERA and wins with four. He started nine games, striking out 38 batters, which was good for 4th on the team.

OUTFIELD
Redshirt senior Koby Kropf was selected as part of D1Baseball's Top 100 Outfielders entering the 2025 season, slotting Kropf as the 26-best in the country.

Kropf started all 60 games for conference rival USC Upstate in 2024, and became just the third player in Big South history with 20 doubles (21) and 20 home runs (20) in a season. He hit .352 overall with 20 homers, 67 runs batted in, a .704 slugging clip, 81 hits and 56 runs scored. Kropf also drew 29 walks and five hit-by-pitch and finished with a .431 on-base percentage. Kropf recorded a career-high five hits versus Presbyterian on April 27, collected a career-high five RBI versus Queens on April 16, and recorded 25 multi-hit and 19 multi-RBI games a season ago.

In Big South contests, Kropf batted .363 with eight home runs, 28 RBI, a .714 slugging average and .463 on-base clip.

"I've had the fortune of coaching him the last two years and have seen firsthand that he brings so much more to the table as a player in addition to his bat. He is a very good outfielder that works extremely hard at his craft, is a great competitor," says McGuire.

Last season at USC Upstate, he earned Second-Team All-Big South honors and was a back-to-back Player of the Week honoree (April 22 and April 29).

Kropf was named the 2025 Big South Preseason Baseball Player of the Year. Kropf is the first Winthrop baseball player to earn Preseason Player of the Year honors since 2007 and the third time overall.

"Koby is very deserving of this pre-season recognition, he had a monster year last year in which he led the Big South in HR's and was among league leaders in most offensive categories," McGuire said.

Junior Ethan Wilson is in his first season with the Eagles after spending the last two seasons as a starter at Spartanburg Methodist Community College. His father is the CEO of Founders Federal Credit Union. The Rock Hill, S.C. native won all-region in three of the four years he was in high school. Wilson graduated from high school in 2022 and won a Legion state title that season.

Junior Cole Yearsley arrived in Rock Hill after spending last season at Southern Illinois University. He played in 10 games, starting in four. He scored twice, batted in a pair of runs and recorded two hits.

Senior Alan Benhardt enters his second season with the Eagles. He started in 43 of 44 games he appeared in. Highlights last season include having a season-high three hits at The Citadel (4/2) and a season-high three RBI's at Wofford (5/1).

Junior Jaylen Hernandez had a terrific freshman season with the Eagles in 2024. He finished tied for 7th in the Big South in doubles with a team-leading 15 doubles; starting in all 45 games he played in, finishing the season with 157 at-bats. He was also tied for the team lead in games started and home runs with seven and led the team in RBI's with 30 and walks with 19. He was named the Big South Freshman of the Week on May 6, which was the first weekly award of his career. A versatile player, Hernandez will DH, play first base and play in the outfield in 2025.

INFIELD
Junior Dusty Vela came to Winthrop as a JUCO transfer after spending the last two seasons playing at Reedley College. He played in 84 games, recording 74 runs, 109 hits, 19 doubles, five home runs, 79 RBI's, 40 walks, 11 stolen bases in 324 at-bats. This garnered him a .336 batting average. For his strong efforts, Vela was named Second Team All-Conference Utility in 2022 and 2023 and First Team All-Conference Infielder in 2023 and 2024.

Vela is joined by junior Gabe Natividad, another JUCO transfer from San Joaquin Delta College and freshman Colin Crowley. Crowley had tremendous success in high school, winning CHSCA All-CCC honors twice and all-state honors three times.

CATCHERS
Junior Chet Bowling came from Brunswick Community College, where he earned Second Team All-Region 10 Catcher last season.

Senior Nate Chronis was named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team. Chronis started in 33 of 44 games played, batting in a season-high two runs vs. Radford on May 5.

SCHEDULE
Winthrop's 2025 schedule features 56 games, with 33 home games at Founders Field.

"My programs traditionally play a great schedule, and I often play more Power Four games than most mid-majors. So adding a few things to this schedule was important this summer once I was hired," McGuire said.

Schedule Breakdown:

• Eight games vs. Power Four teams
• 13 games vs. teams that were in the NCAA Regionals last year
• 20 games vs. teams that won 32 or more games last year
• 33 home games
• Home-and-Home with South Carolina, NC A&T, Wofford, Citadel, and Davidson
• Single home contests with Cornell and Queens (N.C.)
• Road games @ Clemson and College of Charleston
• Road series @ Oklahoma State, Charleston Southern, USC Upstate, Longwood, and Radford
• Home series with Notre Dame, St. John's, Merrimack, Villanova, Wagner, Presbyterian, UNC Asheville, Gardner-Webb, and High Point
• Weekend tournament @ Fluor Field, Greenville, S.C. vs. UAB, Michigan State 

"I think our home schedule should be attractive to our fans with 33 home contests and some very good opponents," says McGuire. "I believe this schedule will prepare us for Big South and post-season play as we have significant challenges both at home and on the road."

STAY POSTED
To keep up with the latest news on the Winthrop baseball program follow the Eagles on Twitter (@WinthropBSB), Instagram (@winthropbaseball) and Facebook (/winthropbaseball).