The Pride finished 20–21 overall and 12–9 in the MAC Commonwealth a year ago. But head coach Kevin Burdick didn’t frame last spring as a record to celebrate or dismiss. He framed it as a lesson — and a warning.
Last season, Burdick said, Widener played “top baseball” early, then hit an eight-game losing streak and “ran out of gas.” This year, his belief is simple: more depth, older at-bats, and fewer innings falling on the same shoulders.
“You’re never ready for opening day,” Burdick said, describing a winter that has mostly lived indoors — an indoor fieldhouse, one cage, nets dropped from the ceiling — with only brief chances to get on the turf.
But Widener’s 2026 identity won’t be built on conditions. It will be built on the players who return, and the production they’ve already proven.
Widener’s lineup starts with Kevin Bukowski, a captain at first base and the kind of hitter who forces opposing coaches to manage the inning differently.
In 2025, Bukowski hit .356 with a 1.165 OPS, blasting 10 home runs and driving in 38 while posting a .476 on-base percentage. Burdick called him a legitimate conference Player of the Year type — and if that feels like coach-speak, the stat line does most of the talking.
Beside him is Ryan Bauerle, who hit .324 and scored 39 runs, with 16 doubles and 20 stolen bases (20-for-23). Burdick said Bauerle is moving to left field after playing in the infield, creating one of the season’s cleaner storylines: Bauerle has a chance to earn all-conference recognition at three different positions in three straight seasons, while still serving as the team’s ignition switch.
Behind those two, Widener expects Brendan Raven — another captain and the starting catcher — to give them more damage. Raven hit .284 with 22 walks in 2025. Burdick calls him one of the better defensive catchers in the league. The ask is for Raven to turn more of his at-bats into extra bases, especially with a key 2025 run producer now gone.
That missing bat is real. Widener must replace Jack Balcer, who led the team by hitting .388 and set the program’s single-season doubles record with 20.
The upside for Widener: the core remains, and Burdick believes the lineup will be deeper than last year’s group.
The staff begins with Trae Sanders, Widener’s returning workhorse and the pitcher Burdick described as “every bit of a #1.”
Sanders threw 59.2 innings in 2025 with a 3.47 ERA, going 4–3 across 11 starts and striking out 41. In a league where depth often decides April, Widener will rely on Sanders to keep weekends stable while the rest of the rotation takes shape.
Behind him, Burdick pointed to John Najdek as a pitcher-only conversion who emerged quickly, and he singled out Alex Epperly as a first-year arm who has “earned the right to be a conference starter.” The roster gives Widener options — Najdek, Epperly, and Hayden O’Neill (IF/RHP) are all listed among the returning/available pieces for 2026.
Burdick also said Widener returns its closer, Ethan Lytle (LHP), in a rebound spot after a down year — another example of what Widener is really chasing in 2026: more usable innings from more places.
That’s the difference between a solid March and a season that holds together in May.
The Pride don’t need a makeover. They need staying power.
They already have a middle-of-the-order bat in Bukowski, a table-setter with speed in Bauerle, a captain behind the plate in Raven, and a frontline starter in Sanders.
Now comes the hard part: turning that core into a roster that doesn’t fade when the schedule thickens.
If Widener finds that depth Burdick keeps talking about, the 2026 story won’t be about surviving Northeast weather.
It’ll be about finishing what last spring started.
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