On Feb. 2, the Colorado Buffaloes club baseball team announced its full roster for the upcoming season following winter tryouts. Twelve new players have been added to the depth chart to end the busy offseason, combining for a full 33-man unit.
The underclassmen surprisingly dominate the roster with 10 freshmen and 11 sophomores. Still led by the leadership of President Andrew Garcia and Vice President Nathan Hoffman, on top of the brand-new coaching staff, the club is setting a strong foundation for a core to follow for the next three to four years.
Freshmen
Aforementioned, about one-third of the team this spring will be made up of freshmen. The class has four new additions from the fall squad: Caedon Meyer, Colin Dwyer, Evan Lawrentz and Ryder Jaquez.
The only freshmen who aren’t returning are Charlie Seventko and the speedy Tyler Thime, who both played more minor roles offensively. In their combined 31 plate appearances they averaged a .142 batting average with two hits a pop.
The freshman class didn’t produce well on the mound last fall but made up for it at the plate. Two different first-years had over a 1.000 OPS in Charlie Lesch and Richie Biborosch. Lesch was an on-base machine, collecting the tied-second most hits of anyone on the team. Over his nine knocks, Lesch slashed a .450 average, .521 on-base and .550 slugging percentage. Biborosch beat him out in OBP and SLG, and tallied six RBIs over his 21 plate appearances.
None of the four added freshmen are expected to make a debut in the Opening Day lineup, but as the future of the team, the class of 2028 should be fun to watch all season.
Sophomores
The sophomores nearly doubled in growth over the winter, bringing their total from six to 11 players. Jared Walsh is the only one who left, but five new ball players filled his shoes in Salvatore Timpani, Jack Estes, Aiden Bartz, Judson Stafford, Luca Genovese, and most importantly Wes Barnett, who could make a case for a strong starting pitcher this season.
Estes and Timpani are the two returners who played last season but stepped away for the fall. Both were below-average arms, but a lot of the starting pitching rotation this upcoming season could be made out of sophomores. Victor Moreno was the best pitcher coming out of the fall, leading the team in earned run average (ERA), walks plus hits per inning (WHIP) and full innings pitched (IP).
This class will produce even more at the plate across Finn Simones, Cash Mardosz, Zach Andrews and more. Simones was given the most at-bats of anyone last fall, but Andrews made the most of his. He batted 10-for-17 which helped him lead the team in every major hitting stat with a 1.415 OPS and a .765 SLG.
This class could likely make or break the club's entire season. The sophomores will have multiple vital pieces throughout the lineup and rotation, and with the competitive division, a lot of these match-ups could come down to the games within the game.
Juniors
Seven ball players make up the 2025 junior class, including the best new addition of the offseason, Will Shine. Shine, who played last season but skipped on the fall, is anticipated to become the team’s ace by Opening Day.
Three juniors from the fall aren’t on the upcoming roster, Thomas Klein, Matt Longstreet and Bryce Smith. Longstreet will be a big loss on the mound for the Buffs, as he threw the second-most innings with a great ERA and WHIP.
Of course, the junior class holds the NCBA Now’s Preseason All-American outfielder Nathan Hoffman, who is widely regarded as the club’s best player. Hoffman is coming off an impressive fall campaign in which he miraculously didn’t strike out once in his 27 plate appearances. Rishi Nair is also a junior, who led the offense in RBIs and hit the team’s only home run.
This class might have the most star power of any on the team and will have expectations to live up to this Spring.
Seniors
The senior class added Spencer Kazmarski, who played last season but also passed on fall ball. That brings the senior class’s total to five players, headlined by President Andrew Garcia.
While the Buffs had no coaches last autumn, a lot of the seniors had less playing time and did more coaching and mentoring. Now that the team hired three new coaches this winter, including new skipper Mark Goodman, everyone will get to see what this senior class is made of.
Garcia performed the most at the plate of any seniors, with a .347 OBP and .663 OPS. Jack Hamilton was the only class member who made an appearance on the mound, shoving just under five innings with a sub-two ERA and WHIP.
Although there are fewer expectations of seniors this spring, the mentors will still play a decisive role for the Buffs chasing a division title in 2025. The club kicks off its season against big schools in a round-robin tournament, including No. 4 Texas A&M, Iowa and Texas.
Stay up to date with everything club baseball at skobuffssports.com
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