ROLLA, Mo. – One consistent trait of successful teams on a year-in, year-out basis is that their best players are indeed the team's best performers throughout the season.

For Missouri S&T's baseball team – which opened its season six days earlier that originally scheduled by sweeping a doubleheader Sunday from Lincoln by scores of 6-1 and 11-6 -- that certainly rings true as a team that finished the regular season strong a year ago brings back several of those key performers for the upcoming year.

"We have a good nucleus of returners back this season, all of whom are being counted on to contribute at a very high level for us," said Miner head coach Todd DeGraffenreid. "We have set our goals very high and feel we have the pieces in place to attain them."

The Miners are slated to resume their schedule Saturday when they host Indianapolis in a three-game non-conference series (the teams will play a single game Sunday). Missouri S&T will have plenty of opportunities to build its early season resume on its home turf, as it will play 14 of its first 15 games and 22 of its first 27 at the S&T Baseball Field.

After starting the 2013 season with seven straight losses, the Miners started finding the win column when Great Lakes Valley Conference play began and really took off beginning in mid-April, winning 11 of their final 13 contests before dropping a pair of extra inning contests at the GLVC Tournament. S&T ended the year at 24-25 overall, but finished 22-14 in the GLVC and placed third in the GLVC West Division.

Part of the reason for the second half resurgence came from the pitching staff, as senior John Auble (St. Louis, Mo./Lutheran South) – Sunday's opening game winner -- won four of his final five decisions and threw two shutouts along the way to finish with a 5-5 record and 3.41 earned run average. Eric Van Dyke (Longmont, Colo./Silver Creek) moved into the weekend rotation in April and won three of four decisions with a 3.07 ERA, while Reed Brown (Rogers, Ark./Heritage) became a stabilizing force out of the bullpen with three wins and a 2.55 ERA.

The starting group will be bolstered by the return of Kyle Robertson (Granite City, Ill./Granite City), an all-conference performer during the 2012 season when the Miners won their second straight GLVC West title but missed all of last year due to an injury.

"Having Auble and Van Dyke back in our rotation this year should provide some stability to a group that should have Robertson back in it," DeGraffenreid said. "Two newcomers, Aaron Bedsworth (New Bloomfield, Mo./New Bloomfield) and Eric Smith (Tulsa, Okla./Union), will be competing for the fourth and fifth spots in the rotation."

Bedsworth, a transfer from St. Charles Community College and Smith, who joins the Miner program after two seasons at Redlands Community College in Oklahoma, figure to bring some immediate experience to the starting group that lost two veterans in All-GLVC performer Nolan Korn (Cedar Hill, Mo./Northwest) and four-year starter Chris Bowe (Rolla, Mo./Rolla).

In the bullpen, the Miners return righthanders Ryan Bearden (Kirkwood, Mo./Kirkwood), who posted a team-best 2.53 ERA in 10 appearances last spring, along with Jacob Hinton (Westmoreland, Tenn./Westmoreland), who also appeared in 10 contests in relief last year. S&T also returns lefthanders Tom Laudadio (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles East), a senior, along with sophomores Mack Preston (Shawnee, Kan./Shawnee Mission Northwest) and Matt Mosley (Dardenne Prairie, Mo./Fort Zumwalt West) who saw time out of the bullpen as freshmen.

Junior college transfers Micah Dohlen (Kent, Wash./Kent Lake), a righthander and Blake Stephens (Chillicothe, Mo./Chillicothe), a lefty, will add additional arms and experience to the bullpen unit for the upcoming year. Dohlen picked up the victory in the Miners' second game win Sunday.

"I would like to think our bullpen will have some talent and depth this season," DeGraffenreid said. "The added year of experience for Laudadio, Hinton, Bearden, Brown and Preston should really help them. Dohlen and Stephens should really help our depth down there as well."

On the offensive side, the Miners bring back their top four hitters from a season ago, led by all-region second baseman Michael Lockett (O'Fallon, Mo./Timberland), who batted .310 and drove in 27 runs. Two of the other top hitters also play on the infield, as S&T returns Lance Portwood (Edmond, Okla./Edmond Santa Fe), who hit .397 in 68 at-bats in the second half of the season after earning a spot in the everyday lineup and earn All-GLVC honors in the process as well as Brown, who hit .309 as the team's third baseman.

Clint Wobbe (St. Louis, Mo./St. Louis University HS), a three-year starter at shortstop, returns to that spot while sophomore Nick Ulrich (St. Louis, Mo./Vianney) is expected to compete for playing time at third and the two middle infield positions. S&T also brings back Matt Robaska (Parkville, Mo./Park Hill South), who appeared in 20 games a season ago and could play at either first or third.

The outfield spots are a little more unsettled as far as experience goes as the Miners lost starters Michael Boxell (O'Fallon, Mo./Fort Zumwalt North) and Kyle Rich (Olathe, Kan./Olathe South) from last year's squad. Tyler Bodenstab (Independence, Mo./Truman), who hit .295 and was among the team leaders in stolen bases with 10, appears to be in line to fill one of those starting roles.

Another returner, Jake Brower (Wentzville, Mo./Timberland), will compete for a starting spot in the outfield along with newcomer Trevor Karbowski (Standish, Mich./Sterling Central), a transfer from Central Michigan who played well during the fall. In addition, redshirt freshman Ethan Krenning (St. Louis, Mo./Lutheran South) figures to be in the running for a spot in the outfield as well. Brower had four hits during Sunday's twinbill sweep.

Behind the plate, the Miners will have a new regular at that position with the loss of Colin Coan (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./South St. Paul) and that will come from a number of candidates led by returner Zach Siegel (Sarasota, Fla./Riverview); he drove in three runs during S&T's four-run first inning in game one Sunday. Redshirt freshman Brett Yasui (Mililani, Hawaii/Kamahameha) also returns and is joined by newcomers Luke Wetzler (Waterloo, Ill./Waterloo).

Siegel and Robaska, who had three runs batted in during the second game Sunday, figure to be the top candidates to handle the team's designated hitter role this season.

DeGraffenreid, whose team finished second in NCAA Division II in fielding percentage last season with a school record mark of .974 that was second to national finalist Minnesota State, feels his team has prepared well for what's ahead over the balance of the spring.

"This team will be built around pitching and defense," he said. "Our guys have worked extremely hard over the last six months and have really bought into what our strengths need to be to win games and a conference championship this season."