The Wayne State College baseball team's season opening three-game series this weekend at Northeastern State in Tahlequah, Oklahoma has been moved up one day due to the weather.  The Wildcats and Riverhawks will now play on Friday and Saturday – instead of Saturday and Sunday – with Friday being a single 9-inning game starting at 1 p.m. and a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 11 a.m.
             Northeastern State is 0-3 on the season after dropping a three-game series last weekend at St. Edward's in Texas while WSC has yet to play.  The Wildcats were picked sixth in the Preseason NSIC Coaches Poll released on January 17^th. 
            WSC is 1-2 all-time against Northeastern State with the most recent meeting coming in the 2002 season, a 3-0 Wildcat victory.
            Wayne State College returns four of their top five hitters and the top four starters and closer from last year's pitching staff that placed seventh in the NSIC (18-16) and was 21-26 overall. 
            Fourth year head coach Alex Koch, who is 92-102 overall and 75-61 (.551) in the NSIC, hopes the team gets off to a better start than in previous seasons.  WSC opened 2-8 last season, 4-9 in 2017 and 3-12 in 2016.
            One big change facing all teams for the 2019 baseball season is that all NSIC teams play each other starting this season instead of a staggered schedule where teams did not face two schools in league play.  Teams will still play mid-week doubleheaders while the weekend series will now be three-game sets instead of four to accommodate playing each NSIC school this season.
            "I believe we will benefit from the new NSIC schedule this season," remarked Coach Koch.  "Instead of needing six starting arms, we only need five now since we are going three-game sets on the weekend.  This allows us to put another quality arm in our bullpen to strengthen it."
            Wayne State returns three All-NSIC performers who will lead the Wildcat offense this season.
            Senior left fielder Travis Miller, a Second Team All-NSIC selection last season, led the Wildcats in hits (59) while batting .364 with seven homers and 38 RBI.
            Junior Bryce Bisenius was Second Team All-NSIC at designated hitter last season and will make the move to first base this season.  Bisenius led the Wildcats with a .394 batting average, recording nine doubles, two homers and a team-high 39 RBI.
            Sophomore second baseman Andrew Hanson was a First Team All-NSIC honoree as a freshman after batting .320 with 11 doubles, seven homers and 29 RBI.
            "Travis, Bryce and Andrew will be the big power in the middle of our order," said Koch.
            Behind the plate, junior Jake Lemar returns from injury while senior Garrett Graveline made 33 starts last season giving the Wildcats plenty of experience at the catching position.
            ""Our two catchers are very reliable and work well with all the arms on our pitching staff," added Koch.  "It is always good to have both returners behind the plate."
            Other returning starters for the Wildcats include senior Kyle Thompson at third base (.269, 2 HR, 12 RBI) and senior shortstop Jake Lorenzini (.203, 1 HR, 13 RBI) in 38 starts last season.  Junior Peyton Barnes will serve as backup at third and second base while junior C.J. Neumann will backup Lorenzini at shortstop.
            "We have a lot of core position players back that have been practicing hard to continually get better," stated Coach Koch.
            Junior college transfer Brendan Madsen, a graduate of Bellevue West HS, will man center field this season and be leadoff for the Wildcat offense. 
            "We added a great leadoff piece in Brendan Madsen," boasted Koch.  "He is the type of player that can consistently get on the bases and wreck havoc."
            Sophomore Alex Logelin is projected to be the starting right fielder this season after making 17 starts late last year, posting a .351 average with 3 homers and 13 RBI. 
            Sophomore Colin Chick will serve as a backup outfielder in 2019 and brings speed and defense to the Wildcat outfield.
            Numerous players will conted for time in the designated hitter spot including junior Brandon Barker and junior college transfer Jake Nielsen.
            The Wildcat pitching staff returns their top three starters and closer, all underclassmen, and looks to improve on last year's team earned run average of 7.22.
            Sophomore lefthander Aaron Ras is the Wildcat Pitcher to Watch this season after going 5-2 in 10 starts last season with a 4.02 ERA.  He allowed just 49 hits in 53.2 innings pitched and recorded 44 strikeouts.
            Junior Aidan Breedlove led the Wildcat staff last season with 12 starts, going 2-6 with one shutout, three complete games and a 6.95 ERA.  Junior Hunter Wienhoff led the Wildcat staff last season in several categories, posting a 4-4 record with a 6.50 ERA.  He topped WSC in innings pitched (63.2), strikeouts (61) and complete games (4) with one shutout.
            Senior Charles Hasty, who made eight starts last season, will move to the bullpen this season and looks to improve on his 1-4 mark.
            Junior closer Lawson Zenner notched six saves last season in 20 appearances, going 6-3 with a team-leading 3.60 ERA.  He fanned 37 batters in 30 innings of work and allowed just 12 earned runs. 
            Junior Mitch Gullikson returns to the Wildcat bullpen after missing last year due to injury.  Koch also sees freshmen throwers Ryan Petersen, Ryan Obrecht and Andrew Staebell as players who will see immediate action on the hill this season for WSC.
            "The strengths of our team will be the back end of our bullpen and our starting weekend arms," claimed Coach Koch.  "Baseball starts on the mound and if you want to have any kind of success it starts there.  We feel like we brought in some nice pieces to help out our staff."
            Wayne State was picked to finish sixth in the NSIC Preseason Baseball Coaches Poll released on January 17^th.
            The Wildcats are scheduled to open the 2019 season on Saturday, February 9^th at Northeastern State in Oklahoma.  This season's spring break trip finds the Wildcats going to Regis in Colorado followed by five games in Tucson, Arizona.
            WSC will play their first 10 Northern Sun Conference games at home, starting March 16^th hosting Minnesota Crookston at the Pete Chapman Baseball Complex.