The precipitous drop from first in the country to tenth in the conference was the result of departing talent (such as pitching stars James Kaprielian and David Berg) as well as key injuries to returning players (eg., Darrell Miller and Nick Valaika). In their absence, Head Coach John Savage was forced to rely on role players, first-time starters, and freshmen.
The result was an inexperienced squad that hit .250/.352/.337 and scored 270 runs while allowing opponents to hit .312/.351/.389 and gave up 312 runs. Thus a season record of 25-31 (12-18) and no playoffs.
Heading into this season, the pitching staff largely consists of returning guys, minus the curveball stylings of Grant Dyer, while the position players have undergone another significant bout of turnover.