Last year, Queen's baseball had a historic season, winning the OUA finals for the first time in program history.  

In their championship game, the Gaels faced off against the reigning champions, the Toronto Varsity Blues. The Gaels gritty brand of baseball drove them to a comeback late in the game, pulling off a 13-8 win.

Coach Jeff Melrose and pitcher Jordan Leishman also walked away from the season earning Coach of the Year and OUA baseball MVP respectively.

Leishman believes that winning the OUA Championship ignited something in the team.

"I think getting a taste of winning and competing at the highest level in the OUA, it really made us hungry for more, and I think I speak for everyone when I say that. You get a little bit of it and all you want is to do it again."

Men's Baseball aims to repeat their previous seasons success this year; however, they are no longer the underdogs.

"I do think that going into the games [other teams] know that they have to bring their best brand of baseball and that means that we have to elevate to a higher level than we did last year because people expect us to play well and they're bringing their A game against us." Said Leishman.

First baseman Hank Kohn also acknowledges that this season comes with different expectations.

"Its kind of visible to everyone now that were a good team and we're not going to be going into games surprising people."

Men's Baseball has started the 2023 season with a 5-5 record after having played doubleheaders against the Toronto Varsity Blues, Laurentian Voyageurs, Laurier Golden Hawks, TMU Bold, and Ottawa Gee-Gees. The team talked about their matchup against the Voyageurs after the doubleheader.

"I think we battled back really well on both of those days. On that Sunday against Laurentian we went down big in that second game, gave up 6 runs in the first inning, and then were actually able to battle back and only lose that game 8-7 so the big positive that I see out of that weekend that we really battled back and never really got out of the game." Said Kohn

"I think we're a team that has a lot of talent but we're also a team that's not going to win purely based on that talent. We have to really work hard and do the right things, so I think there's really room for that to take us to the next level."

Looking ahead to the rest of the season, outfielder Rowan Radzinski says that the team knows what they need to do.

"We're a team that has a lot of talent and with that talent comes higher expectations. Our mindset should be every game go out and play hard. We have to make sure that we go out there, give a big effort, and give our best effort every single game and while doing that we should be able to get to the point we were last year."

Like his teammates, Radzinski believes that other teams are aware of their success.

"It's kind of visible to everyone now that we're a good team and we're not going to be going into games surprising people. We just got to make sure that our energy is up and our level of preparation, the little things in the game, whether that be defensive, offensive, or the execution aspects of the game, we have that all down so that when we get into a game situation, we can execute those things and hopefully bring the championship back to us again this year."

This coming weekend the Gaels continue their quest for the championship at home, facing Carleton Ravens at Megaffin Park in Kingston.