Lorenzo Morresi will play Division I baseball at the University of Texas at San Antonio. (Photo Courtesy FIBS/WBSC)
By Matthew Tallarini
World Baseball Network
Twenty-two year old Italian national team infield prospect Lorenzo Morresi will play NCAA Division I baseball at the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2024.
The UTSA baseball program website has not announced the active roster for the 2024 season yet. Morresi participated with the program during the 2023 fall season and is currently majoring in Economics.
Morresi previously played two seasons at New Mexico Junior College prior to transferring to UTSA for his third year of eligibility and is eligible for the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft.
Morresi was born in Macerata, Italy, and played four seasons in the Serie A1 Italian Baseball League operated by Federazione Italiana Baseball Softball with Hotsand Macerata and in 2020 and 2023 and San Marino from 2021 and 2022.
“I had the opportunity to play both with the U-23 national team and make an appearance with the senior national team. Obviously the further up the category you go, the higher the level of play becomes but there haven’t been any major changes. I still continue to play as always both mentally and physically,” Morresi told World Baseball Network on WhatsApp in Italian.
With the U-23 Italy national team in Wiener Neustadt, Austria at the 2023 U-23 European Championship last August, he played in five games with 11 at-bats, hitting .364 and scoring six runs, recording four hits, one double, one home run, six RBI, five walks, and striking out once. Italy finished in fifth place with a 4-1 record at the U-23 European Championship.
“I hope that baseball in Italy becomes more and more known year after year. Like baseball, competition must also grow and everything must start from the basics of the young players. I also hope that other players and young people like me can have an experience like mine and achieve the dream of playing for the national team,” Moressi said to World Baseball Network.
Last season with Hostand Macerata, Morresi batted .350 in 23 games, smacking 28 hits, six doubles, five triples, one home run, 18 RBI, eight walks, and 15 strikeouts.
In his four seasons in Italy, Moressi has played in 80 games with a career average of .354 in 306 plate appearances, recording 92 hits, 15 doubles, six triples, two home runs, 48 RBI, 34 walks, 46 strikeouts, and a .908 OPS.
During his sophomore season in 2023 at New Mexico Junior College, the switch-hitting catcher played in 46 games and batted .341/.454/.568, smacking 45 hits, 14 doubles, two triples, two home runs, 27 walks, and 25 strikeouts.
”My two coaches at the NMJC made me grow in every way, thanks above all to them I got to where I am now. Head coach Mike Robbins and assistant coach Lauro Felix believed in me and gave me all their knowledge to be successful,” Morresii said to World Baseball Network.
At NMJC, Morresi had 270 chances, 219 putouts, 51 assists, and no errors for a 1.000 fielding percentage, turning 13 double plays, caught 14 runners stealing for a .350 caught stealing percentage and only had two passed balls in 2023.
The UTSA Roadrunners will play their first game of the 2024 regular season against UT-Arlington at home in San Antonio, Texas, at Roadrunner Field at 5 p.m. EST on February 16.