The buzz around Missouri State baseball is back. Here's what you need to know entering 2023.

The buzz around Missouri State baseball appears to be back after the program caught fire over the last few weeks of the 2022 season, won the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and advanced to its first NCAA Tournament since 2018.

Days away from the beginning of the 2023 season, the Bears are hoping to ride that momentum and go even further.

The first pitch of the 2023 season is set for Friday night against Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California. The Bears, going into their 41st season under head coach Keith Guttin, have high expectations for what this year should bring.

The majority of the lineup that gave the Bears one of the most powerful offenses in college baseball will be back with a few promising prospects added in. The Bears also overhauled their pitching staff, which was their biggest weakness a year ago, which includes a pair of arms who are receiving major MLB Draft buzz heading into the year.

Here's what you need to know about the 2023 Bears heading into the season.

More:Here are Missouri State baseball's new names to know entering the 2023 season

The offense should still have high expectations

Five players from the Bears' everyday lineup from a year ago will be in the same position heading into 2023 and a few promising bats have been added.

The Bears finished 13th in the nation last season by hitting 110 home runs with five players hitting 10 or more. Their top two home run hitters from last season departed the program and are playing in Major League organizations (Dakota Kotowski, Phillies, 24 homers; Drake Baldwin, Braves, 19 homers) but they should still have plenty of power with those returning.

Spencer Nivens is the one who has caught the most attention during the offseason. The Bears' leadoff hitter has established himself as an MLB prospect and is considered the No. 2 player in his class in the MVC, according to D1Baseball, and someone who is in the top 100 nationally. He led the team in batting average at .346 while also hitting 11 home runs. He's the likely starter in center field this year.

The Bears will also have the right side of their infield back with Mason Greer at first base and Mason Hull at second. The two combined for 25 home runs. Greer is expected to take a step forward with his power after hitting 10 out of the park in 2022.

More power could be coming out of the Bears' shortstop spot with Charleston Southern transfer Nick Rodriguez expected to start. The Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American hit .384 last season and was recently hitting the ball as hard as 105 mph off the bat. He hit only one homer last year but that is in a good spot to see an uptick.

The Bears will have options at third base with Dylan Robertson and Izzy Lopez both expected to see playing time. With Robertson as a left-handed batter and Lopez as a right, the Bears can switch it up with both.

Will Duff will continue in the outfield after starting 32 games last season. The former Catholic star batted .258 with five home runs. Cam Cratic should continue as the team's designated hitter after making 32 starts from the spot last season while hitting .285 with eight homers.

North Iowa Area Community College transfer Cody Kelly will be the one to replace Baldwin, a third-round pick by the Braves, behind the plate. Kelly was the top-rated catcher in Minnesota as a senior in 2020. He started his career at Minnesota.

Lebanon standout Zack Stewart is expected to start in the outfield. More on him in a bit, but the Bears have extremely high expectations for him after what he's shown this offseason.

The Bears have one of the best transfer classes in the country and it comes with a reloaded pitching staff

A great offense can only get you so far and there becomes a time when the pitching will hold you back. It was the case for the Bears all last season until the pitching was enough to get the Bears through the MVC Tournament but they simply didn't have enough during the NCAA Tournament — the example being the Bears' 12-0 lead against Oklahoma State through three innings and then losing 29-15 to end their season.

Heading into 2023, the Bears overhauled their pitching staff, with a few recognizable names coming back, and it's highly touted. If this staff clicks and the offense continues its success, the Bears could be in for a special season.

Jake Eddington might be the prize of the offseason as he enters the year as the Bears' No. 1 starter and as one of the top pitching prospects in college baseball. There have been dozens of scouts who have come through Springfield to watch him throw in recent months and he's supposed to be legit.

Eddington is a transfer from Alabama who appeared in 14 games in 2021 and missed the 2022 season following Tommy John surgery. He's fully recovered and has showcased a fastball that's getting up to 97.

Brandt Thompson is the Bears' likely No. 2 starter on opening weekend. The North Iowa Area Community College prospect went 6-0 last season as a sophomore with a 2.51 ERA while holding opponents to a .217 batting average.

The Bears also brought back Hayden Minton after he spent his first two years with the Bears and went away to Johnson County Community College for a year. Last year, he went 7-1 while striking out 78 batters and holding them to a .222 average in 50.2 innings. He's the expected third starter.

A fourth starter appears to be up in the air with Ryan Lambert (North Iowa Area Community College), Taeg Gollert and Forrest Barnes being in the mix along with Gage Bradley (Vanderbilt).

The bullpen should see Saint Louis transfer Scott Youngbrandt and returning closer Trey Ziegenbein split closing duties and some middle-relieving spots. Both are said to be healthier than what they were at the backend of their last seasons. Former Logan-Rogersville standout Reed Metz makes his return to Springfield after starting his career at Tennessee and then transferring to Crowder College. He's expected to be used frequently out of the bullpen.

Jake Eddington, Spencer Nivens tabbed as top pro prospects

Eddington and Nivens were the two to receive a lot of attention from pro scouts in the offseason along with Minton. The first two have been tabbed as top 100 college prospects entering the season.

Eddington is more than 12 months removed from his Tommy John surgery and should get better and better as he goes along as the Bears' expected ace this season. He also has a solid slider and has gotten better in terms of his strike zone command. The Doniphan High graduate has been someone pro scouts have been watching for a while as he was involved in the MLB Prospect Developmental Pipeline League following his junior season and was considered the top prospect in Missouri in 2020.

Nivens' story is a little bit different as he had to compete to even have playing time before the 2022 season. His hard work turned him into a Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American and a second-teamer on the postseason MVC team. By playing center field this year, his stock should go up if he can maintain his great presence in the leadoff role after hitting .346 with power.

Minton, according to D1Baseball, is considered the No. 9 draft-eligible prospect in the MVC heading into the year with Kelly ranked 15th. Greer also makes the list at No. 30.

As far as 2024 prospects, Stewart is ranked as the top prospect in the Valley with Lambert slotted at No. 7.

Former Lebanon star Zack Stewart has caught a lot of preseason buzz

There has been a lot of preseason hype around Stewart, who is expected to start in the Bears' outfield on opening day. The former Lebanon star was touted as the No. 44 incoming freshman in the nation, according to Perfect Game, and he's lived up to the billing from what we've heard despite him having yet to appear in a regular season contest.

The 6-foot-2, 220-pounder is a capable infielder but the Bears have depth at the position and he's a good enough athlete to stick in the outfield. Last season with the Yellowjackets, he batted .403 with 24 RBI in 26 games. He was the Ozark Conference's player of the year as a junior when he hit .425 with seven homers.

From the stories we've heard out of offseason practices, there are very few who the Bears have had whose crack of the bat sounds like Stewart's. He's someone the Bears held their breath about when it came to the most recent MLB Draft but the star local prospect's signing bonus asking price might have been too high for some Major League teams to jump on.

If he's half as good as some of the stories that have been coming out of Hammons Field, he's going to be an All-MVC player. It may be a shame that his birthday falls when it does in July because he will be draft eligible following his sophomore year.

There was offseason shuffling with the coaching staff

Most of the names from the Bears' coaching staff from last season are back but there was some offseason shuffling and the departure of a longtime assistant.

Paul Evans departed the program after 34 years and is now the pitching coach at Drury. That made way for Nick Petree to be promoted to the team's pitching coach.

Joey Hawkins made a strong impression during his first season on the Bears' staff as its hitting coach and he's getting a lot of praise for his recruiting class while serving as the team's recruiting coordinator. He has a new title as associate head coach to go along with his recruiting coordinator and hitting coach duties. Hawkins is presumed to be the Bears' coach-in-waiting once Guttin decides to step aside.

But Guttin isn't going anywhere right now as he returns for his 41st season as the Bears' skipper. He's the 16th-winningest coach in Division I baseball history and has guided the team to 12 NCAA Tournaments.

The Bears recently announced Geoff Jimenez as the team's director of player development after serving as a grad assistant for the Bears in 2017 and 2018. Ivan Quackenbush is the team's director of baseball operations. He is a Kickapoo grad.

Adam Link, who was the Bears' Friday starter last season and a Kickapoo graduate, is a notable graduate assistant. Dustin Williams is the team's volunteer assistant after spending the last three seasons at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. He played first base at Oklahoma State and was a two-time All-Big 12 selection.

Expected starting position players

• OF — Spencer Nivens

• OF — Will Duff

• OF — Zack Stewart

• 1B — Mason Greer

• 2B — Mason Hull

• 3B — Dylan Robertson and Izzy Lopez

• SS — Nick Rodriguez

• C — Cody Kelly with Anthony Socci as the No. 2

• DH — Cam Cratic

Expected pitching rotation

• No. 1 — Jake Eddington

• No. 2 — Brandt Thompson

• No. 3 — Hayden Minton

• Possible 4's — Ryan Lambert, Taeg Gollert and Forrest Barnes

• Bullpen — Scott Youngbrandt, Reed Metz, Trey Ziegenbein

• Closers — Scott Youngbrandt and Trey Ziegenbein

Missouri State 2023 baseball schedule

• Feb. 17-19 — @ Cal Poly

• Feb. 22 — @ Oral Roberts

• Feb. 24-26 — Central Arkansas

• Feb. 28 — Oklahoma State

• March 3-5 — @ Arkansas State

• March 8 — @ Central Arkansas

• March 10-12 — @ SIU-Edwardsville

• March 14 — Southeast Missouri State

• March 15 — @ Southeast Missouri State

• March 17-19 — @ East Carolina

• March 21 — @ Saint Louis

• March 24-26 — Evansville

• March 28 — Oral Roberts

• March 31-April 2 — @ Illinois State

• April 4 — @ Kansas

• April 7-9 — Bradley

• April 11 — Mizzou

• April 14-16 — @ Illinois Chicago

• April 18 — @ Mizzou

• April 20-22 — Belmont

• April 25 — Arkansas

• April 28-30 — Valparaiso

• May 2 — Omaha (in Kansas City)

• May 5-7 — @ Murray State

• May 9 — Lindenwood

• May 12-14 — @ Southern Illinois

• May 18-20 — Indiana State

• May 23-27 — MVC Tournament in Terre Haute, Indiana

Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or Twitter at @WyattWheeler_NL. He's also the co-host of Sports Talk on Jock Radio weekdays from 4-6 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: 2023 Missouri State baseball preview entering highly-anticipated year