Stockton, Calif. - The Tigers welcome 14 new players to the baseball family this year as 12 freshmen and two transfers begin their Tiger careers for new head coach Mike Neu.  Nine of Pacific's newcomers are hitters and five are pitchers, though Dylan Robertson will both hit and pitch for the Tigers.

The Tigers will welcome eight freshmen hitters this year.  Pacific will add Joey Mejia, Vinny Margiotta, Michael Ricupito, Fineas Del Bonta-Smith, Shelby Lackey, Christopher Papapietro, Keenan Brigman, and Kevin Sandri.  Blake Barry is also a newcomer for the Tigers, having transferred from Los Angeles Valley Community College, where he managed to drive in 19 runs last year in 31 games.

Sandri comes to Pacific after hitting .303 in his high school career at De La Salle in Concord, California.  As a senior, Sandri hit .310/.430/.394 with 16 runs and 13 RBI in 28 games.

Brigman also enters his freshman season with a successful high school career in the books, having hit .373/.398/.441 as a senior.  Brigman scored 20 runs in 30 games for Valley Christian in San Jose last year.

Papapietro played for Serra High School in San Carlos, California last season, hitting .348/.446/.565 there.  In just 28 games, Papapietro hit 11 doubles and three home runs, driving in 17 runs.  He also scored 23 runs and drew 16 walks in addition to his 32 hits. 

Lackey ended his high school career having hit over .380 every season at Linden High School.  He hit .393/.465/.573 his senior year, with 10 extra-base hits in 26 games.  The Linden native managed to score 28 runs as well.

In his final year of high school, Del Bonta-Smith had a slash line of .305/.370/.536.  Del Bonta-Smith scored 22 runs and recorded 24 RBI in his 31 games for Soquel while hitting 11 doubles, one triple, and three home runs.

Ricupito comes to Pacific after having hit .405 as a senior, with a .510 OBP and .493 slugging percentage.  He had 32 hits in just 27 games for Monta Vista in Danville, California, ending up with 19 RBI as well.  Joining Ricupito on the Tigers roster is Margiotta, who also hails from Danville.  He hit .308/.446./346 his senior year for San Ramon Valley.

Pacific will have four freshman pitchers this year in Robertson, Ricky Reynoso, Ryan Beyer, and Grant Shives.  Toby Woods is also new to the Tigers.  The transfer from Feather River College struck out 13 in 11.2 innings last season, finishing the year 1-0 in 10 appearances.

Reynoso went 10-2 as a high school senior, ending the year with a 0.78 ERA and five complete games.  He struck out 89 in his 81 innings while walking just 18.  Reynoso pitched for Bonita Vista in San Diego.

Beyer went 5-2 in his 13 appearances to end his high school career.  He had a 2.95 ERA and struck out 48 in 42.2 innings.  Beyer also allowed 26 hits all season and hails from Glendora, California.

Robertson found success as both a hitter and pitcher before coming to Pacific in his native San Diego.  Last season, he hit .451/.510/.756 last year, with 21 runs and 28 RBI in 28 games.  As a pitcher for La Jolla Country Day, Robertson had a 3.00 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 14 innings his senior year.  In his junior year, Robertson had a 1.38 ERA in 20.1 innings.

Shives pitched his way to a 1.21 ERA in his senior year at Francis W. Parker High School in San Diego after recording a 1.25 ERA his junior year.  Shives went 20-3 in his high school career, highlighted by his 10-2 record as a senior.

The season starts up for Pacific February 19 when the Tigers hit the road to play a four-game series against Cal Poly.  The home opener for Pacific will be Friday, February 26 against Northwestern.

Pacific baseball tickets are available now online.

Make sure to follow Pacific baseball all season long on Twitter with the username @PacificBaseball and on Instagram at pacificbaseball.