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UVU baseball coach Eddie Smith (55) talks to his team at UCCU Ballpark on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah Monday Feb. 7, 2022 (UVU Courtesy Photo)

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A UVU baseball coach demonstrates a lead off position at UCCU Ballpark on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah Monday Feb. 7, 2022 (UVU Courtesy Photo)

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The Utah Valley University baseball team meets at UCCU Ballpark in Orem, Utah Monday Feb. 7, 2022 (UVU Courtesy Photo)

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A UVU baseball player takes a swing at UCCU Ballpark on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah Monday Feb. 7, 2022 (UVU Courtesy Photo)

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Utah Valley University baseball players stretch at UCCU Ballpark in Orem, Utah Monday Feb. 7, 2022 (UVU Courtesy Photo)

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A UVU baseball player leads off second base at UCCU Ballpark on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah Monday Feb. 7, 2022 (UVU Courtesy Photo)

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A UVU baseball player throws to first base at UCCU Ballpark on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah Monday Feb. 7, 2022 (UVU Courtesy Photo)

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Former American Fork standout Mick Madsen has seen a lot of losses during his career at Utah Valley University.

He has high hopes that’s about to change.

Under first-year coach Eddie Smith, the Wolverines are entering a new era of baseball in Orem.

“I’ve been here for three years and we haven’t won a ton of games,” Madsen said. “So to have Coach Smith come in here and just say, ‘Hey, we’re here to win. We’re here to win and that’s our main priority’ has been probably the best thing that I think we could have happened for our program.”

UVU posted a 37-23 record in 2016 and advanced to its first-ever NCAA Tournament. Since then, the Wolverines have been 63-175 (26%) including a 10-47 mark last season.

Long-time head coach Eric Madsen resigned last spring and the Wolverines plucked Smith from the Southeastern Conference, where he was the hitting coach at LSU for the past two seasons. In total, Smith has been a college baseball coach for 15 seasons.

His first message to the players was a simple one.

“I told them that we were going to work hard,” Smith said. “I told then that the game usually takes a little bit of time to sort out the cream of the crop. The cream always rises but it does take time to do that. When you put the work in the game has a way of rewarding you.

“For the guys that are still with us, I’ll tell you what, they’ve really gone through a pretty rigorous training program and I think they’re a lot tougher for it. I hope that will equate to wins here over the next couple of years.”

There are 20 newcomers on the roster, including shortstop Kayler Yates, who was drafted out of Dixie High School in the 31st round three years ago. He was was the opening day shortstop for the University of Utah as a freshman in 2020 and played two seasons in Salt Lake City.

Another newcomer is former Timpanogos pitcher Cal Beardsley, a lefty who played two years at Salt Lake Community College and last season at Arkansas-Little Rock. There, he earned a degree in Applied Communications and is now working on a second degree in Construction Management.

“I think there’s a lot of really exciting potential on this team,” Beardsley said. “We’ve been going inside quite a bit this fall and this spring so far. Now we’re getting outside. We have a lot of really good bats and some really great arms. It’s going to be really fun to watch everything kind of mesh together.”

Former Lehi pitcher Devin Smith, whose brother Carter is a pitcher for BYU, said the transition to Coach Smith’s system has gone smoothly.

I feel like it’s been awesome,” he said. “Coach Smith brought a great staff with him and I feel like all the guys have really rallied around the plan that he had. We just came ready to compete every single day. And I feel like the adjustment period was hard in the sense that we came in and had to compete and work hard every day, but it was rewarding.”

Madsen is one of the returning players Smith is counting on this spring.

“Mick has been fantastic,” Smith said. “I think this fall he may have led us a batting average. If not, he’s in our top two or three. I think the baseball instincts for Mick are just really, really clear. He’s one of our team leaders. He’s very vocal on the field and kind of directs our defense from the infield.”

Madsen, who plays third base, was the Wolverines second-leading hitting in 2021 with a .266 average, including five doubles, two home runs and 18 RBI.

“We’re going to score a lot of runs,” Madsen said. “We have arms that will help us late in the game that we haven’t necessarily had the past two years. I think that that’s going to be our strength is once we get a lead, from then on we’ll be able to keep that lead.”

Utah Valley opens the season on Feb. 18 with a three-game set at Texas State before returning home to host the University of Utah on Feb. 22.

“Realistically, there’s nobody that really expects us to do much this year,” Madsen said. “We’ve got new jerseys, we’ve got new everything. It’s just a totally fresh start and I’m excited for people to be proved wrong, honestly.”