PHILADELPHIA -- By the time the snow finally loosens its grip on Hawk Hill, Saint Joseph’s baseball will be ready.
Thanks to an NCAA calendar adjustment that allowed teams to begin workouts earlier, the Hawks were able to start practice in mid-January — a change head coach Fritz Hamburg believes will benefit both preparation and pitching health.
“I think it was a needed change, especially for oversight of the pitching,” Hamburg said. “It’s always a rush anyway to get the guys ready and really just be safe with them. By the time we open up here in a couple of weeks, we’ll be more than ready to go — at least feeling that way anyway.”
Saint Joseph’s enters the 2026 season with both momentum and motivation. The Hawks finished 24–28 overall and 17–13 in Atlantic 10 play last season, earning their fifth consecutive berth in the conference tournament before being eliminated following losses to Davidson and George Mason.
“That experience absolutely helps,” Hamburg said. “We’ve been there now five years in a row. It’s more of an expectation now. Last year didn’t go the way we wanted, and I think in some respects that’s got a fire lit under us. The guys that are returning don’t want to just go there again — they want to win a championship.”
Replacing Owen Petrich, the Hawks’ top run producer the past two seasons, will not be easy. But Hamburg believes this year’s offense may be deeper and more seasoned than a year ago.
“One thing that we do have is a lot returning, which is where we didn’t have it last year,” Hamburg said. “Last year we only returned Owen and Timmy Dickinson that had any substantial at-bats. This year with Joey Pagano and Alex Kelsey and Carson Applegate and Timmy Dickinson and Blake Primrose and Joey Gale, we’ve got some guys back that have game experience, which I think is going to help us quite a bit.”
Kelsey appears poised for a breakout season after a standout fall. The outfielder hit .320 last year with a .910 OPS to go along with 15 stolen bases.
“Between the fall games and our intersquads, he ended up hitting over .500,” Hamburg said. “He has excellent strike-zone awareness and is really tough — a table setter. He’s continuing to work on the base stealing and getting more consistent in the outfield.”
Primrose returns after leading Saint Joseph’s with a .329 batting average last season, while his .497 slugging percentage ranked second on the team behind only the departed Petrich (.571). He also added five home runs and 32 RBIs, production that Hamburg believes can grow as his role expands.
“He’s a presence behind the plate,” Hamburg said. “Our pitchers are very confident in him. He’s a really strong kid. If he has a big year offensively, that will certainly lend us to getting a lot closer to where we want to be.”
Jason Janesko, a transfer from East Carolina, brings both versatility and championship pedigree to the lineup. Janesko won a national championship at IMG Academy in Florida and can play both the outfield and catcher.
“He’s a plus runner, a good outfielder and he’s a strong kid that can run the ball out of the ballpark,” Hamburg said. “But he’s pretty dynamic — it’s not just a power game. He can hit doubles and steal bags.”
A key competition remains at third base, where graduate transfer Richard Beggy is being evaluated.
Beggy, a Philadelphia native and Central High School graduate, arrives from NYU after missing last season due to injury. In three seasons with the Violets, he hit .356 over 91 games while playing primarily second base. With Dickinson locked in at second, Hamburg is transitioning Beggy to third.
“He played second base at NYU, but Timmy’s going to be our second baseman,” Hamburg said. “So we’ve had him at third the entire time. His bat is the big thing he can add to the lineup. It’s just going to come down to how he performs.”
Hamburg expects the position to remain fluid early.
“That might be a revolving door early on until we see how it best fits the lineup,” he said.
The Hawks rebuilt their pitching staff through the transfer portal after losing Colton Book, Frank Ciccone and Nathan Stein. Hamburg is encouraged by what he has seen from newcomers Duke McCarron, Cole Fehrman, and Christian Coppola.
That pedigree is exactly what attracted Saint Joseph’s staff in the transfer portal.
“Christian’s stuff is by far the best on our staff,” Hamburg said. “He had a dominant fall.”
“Christian’s stuff is by far the best on our staff,” Hamburg said. “He had a dominant fall.”
Luke Parise has also emerged as a potential starter after pitching out of the bullpen the last two seasons, while Andrew Gaines, Sam Greer, Jackson Campbell, Matt Fitzgibbon and freshman Peter Bashore provide bullpen depth.
“When you look at it, we’ve got 12 or 13 guys that are really solid options for us,” Hamburg said. “I would say this pitching staff is right there with our 2024 staff.”
“When you look at it, we’ve got 12 or 13 guys that are really solid options for us,” Hamburg said. “I would say this pitching staff is right there with our 2024 staff.”
One area that must improve is defense. Saint Joseph’s committed 36 more errors than its opponents last season — a statistic Hamburg sees as a clear point of emphasis.
“Pitching and defense have to go hand in hand,” Hamburg said. “We fell short last year on the defensive side of the ball. That’s a big focus area for us and it needs to be on point.”
The Hawks face a demanding nonconference schedule with road trips to High Point, Sacramento State and Wofford, along with games against Bucknell and Rutgers.
“All of those weekends are certainly going to be heavy tests and on the road,” Hamburg said. “It’s going to be a challenging beginning of the year for sure.”
For a program accustomed to late-May baseball, the goal is clear.
“We don’t just want to get there,” Hamburg said. “We want to win it.”
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