After a disappointing dismissal from the NCAA Div. III College World Series last season, the No. 6/11 Oswego State baseball team is back with a new arsenal of players.

The Lakers lost both games in Appleton, Wisconsin, during the College World Series, one game to Roanoke College and the other to Concordia College at Chicago. With the first appearance in the series in program history, head coach Scott Landers hopes to use that experience to motivate his team.

“It’s a new thing for our program,” Landers said. “If you go back four years and you talk about the regionals, it’s kind of the same way. It’s a stepping stone going forward.”

After 11 seniors graduated last year, the team brought in seven freshmen and numerous transfers. A notable transfer was infielder Brandon Nicholson, who transferred from Canisius College, a Div. I baseball program. He had a .174 batting average and 10 RBI, a statistic he has already matched and beaten this season.

“[The transition] has been pretty smooth,” Nicholson said. “The differences that I’ve seen are pitching.”

Landers stated that Nicholson was a great junior college player and the recruiting process was simple. Nicholson had to choose between SUNY Cortland, a well-known Div. III baseball program, and the Lakers.

After losing top infielders such as Eric Hamilton and Zach Kollar, Nicholson’s leadership and ability was perfect for the opening, according to Landers.

“At the end of the day, he thought [Oswego State] was a better fit,” Landers said. “We had a vacancy that he was able to fill. The opportunity was there, and he has run with it.”

Along with players graduating, a concern for the Lakers was the starting pitching rotation. Oswego State lost Timmy Cronin and Mitch Cavanagh. Cronin was named the Co-Pitcher of the Year in the SUNYAC, and Cavanagh was placed on the First Team All-SUNYAC as well.

The team has “reloaded” and stepped up to fill some of those vacancies left by the graduating seniors, according to Landers.

“I’ve seen nothing but positive energy and willingness to work,” Landers said. “These guys have been on point with what they want to do and what they want to accomplish.”

The Lakers began their season with a weekend in Virginia with three games in two days on Feb. 24 and 25. The team went 2-1 during that stretch. Oswego State also had a weekend planned for games in Delaware and Maryland, but due to weather, all three games were cancelled.

Nicholson took the opening weekend by storm, with two home runs and 10 RBI in the three games. Junior Mike Dellicarri added in three hits during the weekend and 3 RBI against the Virginia Wesleyan Marlins on Feb. 24. Despite Landers stating that his team was right where he thought they would be, Dellicarri was a little more positive about the weekend.

“I think there’s a couple things we need to touch up on, but overall, it went very well,” Dellicarri said.

The team will be looking to make another appearance in the Div. III College World Series this season, building on the stepping stones that the previous teams have laid out for the 2018 Lakers. For senior John Barnes, who has seen great amounts of success, he hopes to go the extra step.

“I think anything less than a world series appearance would be a bad season for this team,” Barnes said. “We’ve been working hard. I have a lot of high expectations for this team.”

Before that, however, the Lakers will be traveling to Florida for nine games in eight days over Oswego State’s spring break. They will start the busy schedule on Saturday, March 10, with a double-header against St. Joseph’s College at Long Island.

During the week, they will also play three SUNYAC matchups against SUNY Fredonia. The Lakers and Blue Devils have played each other during the annual RussMatt Central Florida Invitational since 2016. The Lakers swept the Blue Devils 3-0 last season at the invitational.

Landers said he is looking forward to the warm Florida weather and getting a lot of play time before they return to Oswego to really kick off their 2018 campaign.

“Playing every day and getting each guy out there gives these guys an opportunity to present themselves in a positive and a negative manner,” Landers said. “It’s just getting them out there and getting them playing baseball at a fast pace.”

Barnes and the 11 other seniors on the roster will look to get their second straight College World Series appearance and potentially get their first national win in the finals in Appleton, Wisconsin. Landers hopes they reach that next step.

“They’ve had the luxury of going to three regionals and being on winning teams,” Landers said. “Hopefully they can lead this team to an even farther position than they were last year.”

The Laker Baseball stadium has to wait another couple weeks for its first game while the team is in Florida over spring break. On March 24, however, they will play a non-conference game against SUNY Canton that serves as the home opener for the Lakers.