The Gophers baseball team and head coach John Anderson had a busy offseason trying to fill some holes within the roster. Minnesota is welcoming five incoming transfer players as well as 10 new freshmen.
Transfers
A big struggle for the Gophers last season was in their pitching and that was a key component Anderson went after in the offseason. All five of the Gopher transfers are right-handed pitchers (RHP), including two Minnesotans.
Senior Richie Holetz is returning to his home state after playing for Nebraska-Omaha following his graduation from Edina High School. Holetz’s record doesn’t tell the full story, as he finished with a 5-8 record across his three seasons in 109 innings. He struck out 94 batters while allowing just a .256 average to batters.
Holetz should find a spot in the starting rotation once the season gets going, and still has two years of eligibility to help turn this Gopher team around.
Sophomore Will Semb pitched his lone collegiate season for the Hawkeyes in 2021. Semb only pitched 15 innings in seven outings throughout the season. However, that was the most innings pitched among freshmen on the team and he allowed just five runs while striking 16 batters out.
Semb was highly recruited out of the state of Wisconsin, being nationally ranked as the No. 8 overall player and No. 3 RHP in the state.
Sophomore Joe Hauser is a similar player to junior Sam Ireland who brings pitching and hitting skills to the team. Hauser, on the other hand, brings a strong arm and could find himself up the middle on defense as well as on the mound.
Hauser was previously with Arizona State where he made 10 appearances with the Sun Devils with six starts. Those six starts were the third most on the team. He pitched 16.1 innings while striking 14 batters out and allowing a .288 average against.
Redshirt junior Aidan Maldonado spent three seasons in Illinois pitching at the University of Illinois and is now back home. Maldonado graduated from Rosemount High School and has two years of eligibility left at Minnesota. The Rosemount alum pitched 55.2 innings with 47 strikeouts in nine starts and 28 appearances total at Illinois.
Maldonado’s fastball has reached up to 97 MPH and he was selected in the 38th round of the 2018 MLB draft to the Milwaukee Brewers. He also brings previous experience playing in the Big Ten and should find himself making an immediate impact in the pitching staff.
The final transfer is sophomore Randon Dauman who will have three more years of eligibility after spending two years at St. Louis University and Triton Junior College. Last season, Dauman made 10 appearances and allowed opponents to hit just .250 off him in the spring.
Dauman used the shortened COVID season to his advantage and redshirted his freshman year at Triton.
The Gophers still have a lot of work to do if they plan on making an impact in this competitive Big Ten conference, but these five transfers are sure to make a positive impact on the pitching staff as a whole.
