Baseball Q&A: Nolan Lingley

Nolan Lingley is a rising junior infielder from Tracy, California. After playing in three games as a freshman in 2021, he saw his role increase dramatically as a sophomore, playing in 34 games and starting in 29 of them. Lingley had a .257 batting average in 105 at-bats and recorded a .986 fielding percentage while playing first and third base:

Q: As the team went 24-26 this year and played a highly competitive WCC schedule, how would you say the team felt about the season?

A: I would say it was pretty disappointing for us. We typically have pretty big expectations for ourselves, we want to make the tournament, we want to make a regional. And when you go .500 or less, it's just pretty disappointing. But we were a lot closer than our record shows because we won a game in every series and only got swept once. So we were staying in it but came up short in a lot of games. Hopefully, we can make some adjustments for next season.

Q: Was there anything that you felt was missing from this year's team?

A: As a culture, we need to get better. I think it will, because this past year, a lot of younger guys stepped up. We were such a young team, but I think what we learned this year will help our chemistry a ton going forward.

Q: Individually, you played in three games as a freshman and 34 this year. Where did you feel you improved the most?

A: Defensively, I made some big improvements. Freshman year, I was playing positions in first and third base that I'd never played before. I learned how much faster it is playing at a corner in college. This year I settled in a lot more and I only had two errors. Hitting-wise, I really matured with my approach.

Q: Despite some close losses, what are some things you think the team improved on throughout the season?

A: I think we did a good job of reducing our amount of strikeouts. We were striking out at an alarming rate in the first half of the season. Personally, I made some adjustments and I think some of the other guys did as well. Our strikeout numbers started to drop and we were putting the ball in play. And we won our last two series, so I feel like those adjustments were a big reason why.

Q: Last year's group graduated a pretty strong senior class, what can you say about the job they did as players and as leaders?

A: I thought they were great, I can't say enough about the seniors this year. Not all of them have these huge personalities but it's good because they're always even-keel. There were a lot of lead-by-example guys. And some of them are considering taking their fifth year of eligibility, which will help us even more.

Q: So, who are some guys that you think will step into a bigger leadership role next season?

A: I'm going to try to be more vocal as I'm one of the older guys now. Obviously, Ryan Johnson is one of our top guys, but he's also kind of a lead-by-example guy, as is John Peck. But I can see them coming out and being a little more vocal next season.

Q: Do you have any personal goals for the 2023 season?

A: So I've actually switch-hit my whole life until college. This summer I'm going back to switch-hitting to see how it goes. Offensively, I just want to try to improve as much as I can. My splits were .333 against lefties and .231 against righties, so I want to try to even that out a little bit. And defensively, I could be in some new positions like left and right field. I'm not sure yet, but I'll continue to improve and be as versatile and play any position as I can.

Players Mentioned

Ryan Johnson

Nolan Lingley

John Peck

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