After missing the NCAA tournament in 2025 for the first time since 2017, UConn baseball will head into the 2026 campaign with a significantly altered roster. Twenty-two of the 43 players on the fall roster are newcomers to Storrs, including 15 incoming transfers.
Three of UConn’s most impactful transfers all come from the same program. Jackson Marshall, Nater Wachter and Austin Trumpour all spent 2025 with Southern New Hampshire University and look to have a chance at significant playing time for the Huskies.
Wachter, an outfielder, posted an impressive slash line of .300/.440/.621 en route to being named to the NE10 All-Conference first team. He started in left field in UConn’s alumni game on Sept. 28.
Marshall, who was named to the NE10 second team, had a similarly strong season with a .337/.437/.647 triple slash. Primarily a first baseman, he will compete with 2025 Big East preseason Player of the Year Maddix Dalena to replace outgoing transfer Grant MacArthur at the cold corner. Both Marshall and Dalena notched a home run in the alumni game and the competition will be one to watch throughout the fall.
After struggling in his first collegiate season, Trumpour found his footing in 19 appearances in 2024 and hit his stride in 2025. The right-hander pitched a 3.80 ERA over 73 1/3 innings, striking out 80 batters. Starting pitchers Justin Lessing (Middlebury College) and Charlie Hale (Endicott College) will join Trumpour in the battle for a rotation spot.
Lessing made only one appearance in 2025 before going down with a season-ending injury, but the graduate student has a track record of success. The right-hander pitched to a sterling 1.99 ERA over 11 appearances (10 starts) in 2024, a season in which he struck out the fourth most batters in Middlebury single-season history.
Hale spent two seasons at Endicott, starting 24 of 31 appearances and working to a career ERA of 2.74. The righty struck out over a batter per inning on his way to that mark, while also doing a good job limiting walks to 3 per nine innings. The Huskies lost starting pitcher Thomas Ellisen, who led the 2025 team in games started, to the University of Georgia through the portal. At least one of Trumpour, Lessing and Hale will likely find themselves in the opening-day rotation.
Head Coach Jim Penders was also active in the community college market, bringing in three more pitchers and an outfielder who spent 2025 at the JUCO level. Joseph Talarico (Santa Barbara City College) pitched to a minuscule 1.46 ERA in 19 appearances (15 starts) and did a great job limiting free passes. He’s most likely to start the year as a multi-inning reliever.
Tristan Aasland (Bellevue College) and Joe Pitts (Columbia Basin College) will be options out of the bullpen as well and will be joined by Pace transfer Rob Gilchrist.
Chase Taylor (Los Medanos College) reached base at a .494 clip over two seasons for the Mustangs. The outfielder will be joined on the grass by Chris Polemeni (College of Staten Island) and Peyton Jemison (Mercy). Polemeni was named 2025 East Coast Conference Player of the Year after posting a 1.186 OPS with 14 home runs. Jemison hit .402 in 2025 and was named to the ECC All-Conference first team. Taylor, Polemeni, Jemison and Wachter will all be a part of an outfield competition as the Huskies look to replace each of their top four outfield innings leaders from 2025.
UConn also added a pair of players at the catcher position. With Matt Garbowski graduating after providing 28 starts, the Huskies may look towards Steve Thomas (Catholic University of America) and Chris Cancel (Binghamton University) to form a tandem with incumbent starter Connor Lane. Thomas played three seasons for the Cardinals, batting nearly .400 over 224 at-bats 2025. He set the single-season program record for both hits and runs on his way to a 1.100 OPS. Cancel appeared in only a single game while at Binghamton but had a solid summer while playing in the South Florida Collegiate League.
UConn lost what would have been potentially its most impactful transfer addition when outfielder AJ Soldra (Seton Hall) was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 16th round of the 2025 MLB Draft. The right-handed contact hitter, who started his collegiate career at New Jersey Tech, committed to UConn in early June with the understanding that he might not make it to campus by the time fall rolled around. Soldra would have been a plug-and-play, potential leadoff hitter.
Without Soldra in the fold, Evan Menzel might stand as UConn’s highest-profile transfer.
After spending his freshman season at the University of Maine, the Connecticut native returns to his home state looking to build on a promising rookie campaign. The infielder finished with a triple slash of .342/.447/.530, earning him a spot on the All-America East All-Rookie team as well as the conference second team. He started at third and batted second in the alumni game, with 2025 third baseman and top contributor Tyler Minick playing center field in deference.
The alignment could provide a potential solution to the many questions in the UConn outfield and would allow Menzel to get into the lineup on a regular basis. Coming from a competitive America East conference, Menzel has the potential to be an immediate contributor at the top of UConn’s batting order.
