Coast Guard Academy will have a whole new look when it opens its baseball season on Saturday with a doubleheader against rival Merchant Marine Academy at the Gene Cusic Classic in Fort Myers, Fla.

The Bears return only one senior, catcher Alex Murdoch, while welcoming 13 freshmen to their varsity roster under head coach C.C. Grant, who begins his 10th season.

"We only have one senior in Alex, but we have a large junior class, five of whom will be every day starters for us," Grant said. "I'm also counting on several young guys to step up and be immediate contributors for us this season."

Murdoch is one of four returning players that made 20 or more starts last season. He will be backed up by junior Jeremy Lhotka, who will split time between catcher and designated hitter, while juniors Jake Behne and Reed Jenkins will split time at first, sophomore Jon Pressley moves from first to third, sophomore Kyle Jenkins will start at second base and junior Will Stephens is back at short after starting 31 games a year ago and hitting .275.

A pair of freshman, Tom Ankers and Dylan Donahue, will play utility roles in the infield to add depth.

In the outfield, junior Trey Rittenhouse will start in center, junior Luke Thompson will start in left and sophomore Alex Cordes will open in right after hitting .279 in 2017. Another freshman, Dylan Roberts, will be the fourth outfielder.

Sophomore Brett Sullivan, who went 3-2 with three saves and 30 strikeouts in 32.3 innings, will be the Bears' ace this season while junior Dustin Reeder, junior Walter Harris and freshman lefty P.J. Gravalec round out the starting rotation.

Coast Guard has plenty of depth in the bullpen and to make spot starts during mid-week conference games, including juniors Jack Brandt, Bryan Delp, Dan Finn and Robert Marant along with sophomore Ben Webster and freshmen Lukas Caskey, Michael Gilmore and Nate Ralph.

In addition to a challenging scheduled in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference, the Bears face a tough non-conference that includes neighboring rival Mitchell College, which has qualified for the NCAA Division III tournament three of the last four years.

"The spring trip is a great way for us to get prepared for NEWMAC play once we return north," said Grant. "We will be challenged in conference play with teams like Babson, Wheaton, MIT and WPI. The league continues to get stronger every year as four teams won 25 or more games last season."