Pitching, pitching and more pitching.

As the Utah Valley baseball team prepares for the start of the 2023 season, second-year coach Eddie Smith knows his pitching staff has to improve for the Wolverines to be successful.

“We’ve been able to add some pitching talent and depth,” Smith said during Tuesday’s media day event. “It’s been a critical project for us since Day 1 on the job. It was very noticeable for us last year when we were second-to-last in the Western Athletic Conference in ERA. You can’t win ball games if don’t pitch well.

“We were incredibly aggressive on the recruiting trail looking for pitchers. If we want to be a great team there’s going to have to be some significant improvement in that area. I’m optimistic that we have some guys that can come in here, take on some large roles and help us make that jump.”

The pitching staff is led by junior righthander Nick Sims (5-1, 4.54 ERA in 17 appearances) and former Lehi standout Devin Smith.

“It starts on the mound with Sims,” Coach Smith said. “He was an absolute stalwart for us in the bullpen last year. He’s going to have an incredibly important role for us. Devin Smith was second on the team in innings pitched last year (60.0), and I’ve seen some encouraging signs from him in the offseason. He’s throwing 94 miles per hour and I’m hoping he can make a jump for us.”

Some of the pitching newcomers include Chase Hennessey (Santa Ana Junior College), Ethan Fowlks (Utah Tech), Carter Krosky and Drew Woody (South Mountain Junior College), Casey Anderson (College of Southern Idaho), Reece Rodabaugh (A former Purdue signee), Logan Gerling (Washington), David Spencer (Central Arizona) and Josh Brown (Houston).

“Pitching depth always has a way of being sorted out during the season,” Smith said. “You could look at our fifth-best pitcher and our 15th-best pitcher, and by the end of the year that could be flipflopped. It’s important going through a 56-game schedule to have the confidence and balance level of talent with your pitching staff. You hope that talent makes everybody better and everyone is competing at a high level.”

There are 23 newcomers to the 2023 roster, including 16 transfers as Smith continues to put his stamp on the program.

“There are a lot of new faces on the diamond, for sure,” Smith said. “We have a lot of unproven guys here at the college level. Our returning group needs to improve on what they’ve done. But we have a lot of optimism of what our guys can be.”

Smith said his leadoff hitter, junior Trey Cutchen, will be an offensive catalyst in 2023. Last season, Cutchen hit .302 with 13 doubles.

Another offensive weapon will be former Timpanogos standout Spencer Olsen, who hit .333, drove in 30 runs and hit nine homers in just 31 games last season.

“The biggest thing I’ve work on in the offseason is the pitches I swing at and the pitches were I can do some damage,” said Olsen, who posted a .640 slugging percentage as a freshman. “My batting average will go up if I swing at better pitches. Coach Smith has a really good balance of when to coach and when to let you figure things out for yourself. Last year when I was struggling a little bit, not a lot was said. I think that was one of the reasons I was able to have success. He trusted me enough to figure things out.”

The Wolverines, which finished 19-37 last season and 10-20 in WAC play, open the 2023 season on February 17 with a four-game series at UC Davis, followed by four games beginning February 24 at UC Riverside.

UVU returns to Utah for a home game against BYU on February 28.

“Every guy in our lineup has the ability to hit a home run or get a base hit,” Olsen said. “I don’t see a weak link in our lineup. On our pitching staff, you look at our average velocity. I hit off a lot of them and with the stuff they are throwing, they’re going to compete in the WAC and do really well.

“The past couple of years we’ve had time to figure things out. We’re rebuilding with a lot of new guys. We’ve all come together and we have a lot of unity. My expectation of winning, we don’t want anything less.”

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