Submitted photo The 2026 Martin Luther College Knights baseball team. Front row (l-r): Michel Krebs, Micah Herbst, Caleb Martin, Ryan Pufahl, Ethan Melso, Mark Vogel, Logan Gray-Ives, Nate Vance, Parker Winghart and Aidan Berg. Back row (l-r): Head Coach Randy Cox, Will Salgat, Connor Heckendorf, Silas Winkel, Owen Proctor, Carlos Walta, Jackson Anderson, John Westendorf, Caleb Foxen, John Kamps, Evan Kasa, Asst Coach Jake Mielke and Asst Coach Troy Kamm.

NEW ULM — Martin Luther College head baseball coach Randy Cox sees improvement this season from last year’s 9-27 mark.

“We have a young team this year,” Cox said. “We have seven returning veteran players.”

Back for the Knights are All-UMAC (Upper Midwest Athletic Conference) catcher Mark Vogel, All-Conference shortstop Parker Winghart, second baseman John Westendorf and center fielder Jackson Anderson. All of those players are juniors.

Also back is Carlos Walta, a senior All-Conference left fielder.

Winghart hit .328 to lead the Knights at the plate last season, with a team-high tying 23 RBIs. Walta also had 23 RBIs and followed Winghart with a .320 batting average. Vogel hit .304 last season, while Westendorf hit .239 and Anderson hit .213.

Cox said that newcomers will be Micah Herbst in right field, with another freshman Ryan Pufhal at third base. Will Salgat, a freshman, is penciled in at first base.

Cox said he is excited about this year’s pitching staff.

“Right now our top pitchers are Aiden Berg, a sophomore, and freshman Owen Proctor — he is going to be a good one,” Cox said.

Berg had a 4.63 ERA last season with a 3-6 record and a WHIP of 1.61. He also led the Knights in strikeouts with 56 in 58 1/3 innings of work.

Also back on the mound is left-handed senior Connor Heckendorf, along with with freshmen Herbst and Salgat.

“A lot of our arms are young,” Cox said. “And we are excited about that.”

Heckendorf had a 4.75 ERA and 2-2 record last season in 30 1/3 innings.

Cox said that right now in the spring trip his hitters have more power than he thought they would.

“But they worked hard in the weight room in the offseason,” he said.

And Cox is very happy with the Knights’ defense early in the season.

“We have pitchers who will give us ground balls and if we make the plays behind them, their pitch counts will stay down,” Cox said.

The one question mark that Cox has early on is if his team can play consistent defense all season.

“To play consistent defense is huge,” he said.

The Knights have been tabbed number seven in the UMAC this season in the preseason polls.

“But I expect us to be better than that and with a younger team there will be some growing pains,” Cox said.