UHSP Baseball lands at eighth in AMC preseason poll
Thursday afternoon, the American Midwest Conference unveiled the Baseball Preaseason Coaches Poll for the upcoming 2025 campaign. The Eutectics were selected eighth overall out of the ten conference clubs receiving 38 points. UHSP came in ahead of Crowley's Ridge who will be competing in the AMC for the first time and Harris-Stowe who rounded out the pack. The Pioneers received 24 points and the Hornets had 21. The Eutectics came in one point behind Hannibal-LaGrange who tallied 39 points and in seventh place.
Defending regular season and AMC Tournament champions Missouri Baptist were picked first overall receiving 90 points and seven of the eight first-place votes. Spartans first baseman Cole Robinson was named a 2025 NAIA Baseball Preseason All-American. Columbia received the other first-place vote coming in second with 82 overall points and will be tasked with trying to replace last year's AMC Player of the Year in Cayden Nicoletto and also the Pitcher of the Year in Dan Fick. The Central Baptist Mustangs were third with 74 points. The middle trio was formed by William Woods in fourth place with 62 points, followed by Williams Baptist with 58 points and then another newcomer to the AMC this year in Mission with 52 points coming in sixth place. The top six clubs in the regular season will make the 2025 AMC Postseason Tournament.
The Eutectics finished 11-29 overall last season and 4-17 in the AMC. Their four conference victories came with wins against Williams Baptist, Hannibal-LaGrange and a pair over Harris-Stowe. UHSP finished fifth in in the AMC in hitting with a team batting average of .302. The Euts finished above William Woods, Hannibal-LaGrange and Harris-Stowe. The Columbia Cougars led the AMC in hitting at .357. The power numbers amongst the conference clubs split them into three groups as far as slugging percentage. Columbia and Missouri Baptist were a clear 1-2 at .638 and .577 respectively. Hannibal-LaGrange and Harris-Stowe were the bottom two at .376 and .361 respectively. The middle quartet of Central Baptist, Williams Baptist, William Woods and UHSP were all separated by only .057. The Eutectics were the bottom team out of those four at .435. Robert Uhlmeyer led the Eutectics with a .386 average a season ago and he will certainly leave a big void in centerfield for the Eutectics. Uhlmeyer is sidelined with an eye condition that has forced him to call an end to his baseball career. Ruben Ogando, Holden Campbell and Malcolm Merriweather all return this season after hitting better than .350 last year.
On the mound, Tristan Calmes was the top arm on the Eutectics with a 5.50 ERA. Calmes led the club in innings pitched with 54 IP and finished the year with a 2-7 record. He was also the team leader in strikeouts with 53 on the season. As a staff, the Eutectics had a lofty team ERA of 9.21. That was sixth among conference clubs only better than Hannibal-LaGrange and Harris-Stowe. William Woods finished just one spot better than UHSP, but their team ERA was over two and a half runs better than the Eutectics at 6.46. Columbia led the conference with a staff ERA of 4.52. One area where the Eutectics' pitching staff excelled was in keeping the ball in the park. UHSP gave up the fewest homeruns in the AMC with only surrendering 34 homers. CBC was second at 36 while WBU gave up the most at 58.
Defensively might be the biggest area of concern for the Eutectics heading into 2025. UHSP was last in the conference with a fielding percentage of .914 last season. They easily committed the most errors out of any of the AMC clubs with 107. William Woods committed the second most at 82. Harris-Stowe was second-last in fielding percentage at .923. Central Baptist was the top defensive team in the AMC with a .975 average committing a conference-fewest 43 errors.
Heading into the new season, Calmes and Barrett Lohman will anchor the starting rotation. The bullpen is deeper in 2025 with Jackson Wininger, Kyle Smith, Jacob Grim, Logan Stribling, Brayden Steves, Gavin Long and Nolan Harding set to get significant innings. Jordan Gonzalez and freshman left-hander Deklan Riggs will round out the starting rotation. Offensively, Brandon Gibbs will lead off and play short. Holden Campbell, Malcolm Merriweather, Jordan Gonzalez and Caden Buxton should be significant contributors.
UHSP Head Coach Rick Heines made an effort to address the key areas this offseason, "A primary focus of the offseason had been improving infield defense. Holden Campbell moves to second base from shortstop and the overall effect has been positive. The loss of Robert Uhlmeyer to a career ending injury is a massive blow, but Jordan Gonzalez and Jacob Grim are prime candidates take over in center."
The Eutectics embark on the 2025 campaign on Friday when they begin a three-game series against Oklahoma Wesleyan. They open the home portion of their schedule on February 15 when they host Judson. Their AMC opener comes on Feb. 21 when they visit Central Baptist.