STOCKTON, Calif. – With the 2023 baseball season starting on Friday, Feb. 17, against UNLV, the Tigers have plenty of new faces guided by a handful of familiar vets.  

"We are excited to start this new season with 18 new faces in the program," said Head Coach Chris Rodriguez. "We have worked extremely hard this fall to get these young men ready to play."

Pacific will look to improve on its 14-win season in 2022 with a strong start against UNLV. The Tigers will open the season against the Rebels on the road. Pacific will face a tough test early, facing the reigning Mountain West Champions, a UNLV team that won 36 games in 2022. 

Pacific will be leaning on 18 newcomers to help replace the production of three MLB draft products of Thomas Gavello, Elijah Birdsong and Hunter Hayes. There will be plenty of opportunity on the mound for the Tigers, as six of the top seven pitchers in innings pitched. 

"We have a lot of interchangeable pieces, which is going to be a joy to coach," Rodriguez continued. "The coaching staff is ready to go, with assistants Ben Buechner and Garrett DeGallier returning and the new additions of Elliott Cribby and Jarron Silva having brought new ideas to this program."

Senior Marvcus Guarin and senior Grant Stevens will spearhead the starting rotation. Guarin made nine starts with 10 appearances in 2022. He picked up a win against Saint Mary's with seven innings pitched, allowing only one run on three hits. While Stevens did not appear in a game in 2022, he was one of the best pitchers in 2021, making 16 appearances and had a team-leading 3.56 ERA. 

Seniors Tyler Stout and Jackson Ertz will look to lock down wins coming out of the bullpen. Stout appeared in 17 games in 2022, pitching 20.2 innings and picking up two wins. Ertz appeared in 12 games and picked up two wins in 2022. 

Graduate Ben Nemivant will pace the Tigers at the top of the lineup. Nemivant was a part of one of the highlights of the 2022 season, hitting two home runs and driving in five runs in one inning against Northern Colorado in the season-opening series. Nemivant appeared in 44 games last season with 42 hits and 21 RBI. Graduate student Jeremy Lea was a stalwart behind the plate in 2021, playing in 40 games, hitting .257 and driving in 24 runs. With seven multi-hit and eight multi-RBI games, Lea looks to continue his consistent production for the Tigers. 

Junior Chaz Myers will solidify the middle infield; last season Myers was tied for the team lead with 52 hits. He led the team with 15 doubles in 47 games. His best game of 2022 came against Loyola Marymount when he had three extra-base hits and drove in six runs. 

Junior outfielder John-Howard Bobo joins the Tigers from the College of Southern Nevada and will look to make an immediate impact. In two seasons with the Coyotes, Bobo hit .336 with 88 hits, 29 extra-base hits and 65 runs driven in. Freshman Tony Otis will join Bobo in the outfield; the Las Vegas native joins the Tigers after a successful prep career at Spring Valley High School, where he was ranked the number six outfielder in the state. 

Freshman Rylan Evans looks to help replace the production of Thomas Gavello on the infield. The number two shortstop in Nevada joined Pacific from Moapa Valley High School and was given an eight out of ten grade by Perfect game. A player who shows up in clutch situations, Evans hit two home runs to send his team to the Nevada 3A State Championship Tournament. 

"Come check out this Tiger team at the beautiful Klein Family Field," Rodriguez concluded. 

Pacific fans will have their first chance to see the new-look Tigers at home against Milwaukee on Friday, Feb. 24 and Saturday, Feb. 25, at Klein Family Field.