ROLLA, Mo. – The 2020 baseball season ended prematurely for teams across the nation and in the case of Missouri S&T, the suspension and then cancellation of the campaign a short time later could not have come at a worse time.

After a slow start, the Miners began to find their footing as they won six of the last seven games they were able to play.  In those seven contests, S&T averaged 11.3 runs per game, which included a 23-4 win over Rockhurst in which the Miners posted their highest run total ever in a conference game.

So, can the Miners pick up where they left off as they get set to begin the 2021 season this weekend?

Missouri S&T lost eight seniors from last season's squad that finished at 7-8 overall, but two other seniors on that squad – granted an extra season of eligibility by the NCAA after the 2020 season was halted early due to the COVID-19 pandemic – have returned for the 2021 campaign and figure to be key pieces to the everyday lineup along with a number of other returners.

Keegan Baxmeyer (Waterloo, IL/Freeburg) led the Miners in hitting last season with a .385 average and had at least one hit in 11 of the 15 contests played, while also pacing the squad with 13 runs batted in.  He is projected to fill one of the outfield positions along with sophomores Brady Voss (Lake St. Louis, MO/Liberty) and Dakota Sill (Lansing, KS/Lansing), senior Tate Morrell (Lloydminster, AB/) and redshirt freshman Garrett Weiner (Alton, IL/Marquette).

Sill hit .333 in seven games last season and also stole four bases, while Morrell batted .292 and drove in six runs; he could also contend for the team's designated hitter role along with Weiner, who had a strong fall campaign that included a home run in the decisive game of the team's Green & Gold World Series.  Voss made seven starts in the outfield during his first season as a Miner.

The other returning senior from a year ago, Brady Wildschuetz (Foristell, MO/Francis Howell), started seven times behind the plate last spring and threw three runners out trying to steal while batting .235 in 17 at-bats.  The projected players behind Wildschuetz are redshirt freshman Michael Hughes (St. Clair, MO/St. Clair) and newcomer Matt Souza (Escondido, CA/Christian) along with returner Braden Mahurin (Dixon, MO/Dixon), who made eight starts and batted .269 in those games.

S&T's infield, meanwhile, is intact from a season ago.  First baseman Michael Ward (Hazelwood, MO/Hazelwood West) led the Miners with three home runs and drove in 11 while batting .340 last season, while across the infield, Aaron Berkhoff (Colorado Springs, CO/Cheyenne Mountain) hit .346 during his first season in a Miner uniform from the third base position.   The middle infield consists of steady veterans Will Hayes (Terre Haute, IN/South Vigo) and Doug Wood (Liberty, MO/Liberty North), with Hayes coming off a season where he hit .294 and led the Miners with seven stolen bases.

Wood, the Miners' starting shortstop a year ago, hit .255 and drove in 12 runs, but hit .375 over his last eight games with hits in seven of those contests.

The Miners also return Landon Bell (Seymour, MO/Seymour), a first baseman that will also be a candidate for designated hitter duties this season, while freshman Andrew Branson (St. James, MO/St. James) will compete for playing time as will returner Cole Hampton (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville), who made nine starts in the 2019 season.

S&T figures to have a veteran presence in its starting rotation this season, headed by two members of last year's rotation in Cade Meier (Dakota, IL/Dakota) and Chasen Anderson (Moscow Mills, MO/Troy Buchanan).  Meier made four starts and struck out a team-high 21 hitters in 20 2/3 innings, while Anderson made a pair of starts and finished second on the staff in innings pitched with 16 while recording a 4.50 earned run average.

Lefthander Dylan Dunbar (West Plains, MO/West Plains) is projected to move from the bullpen into the rotation this season while newcomer Rian Markes (Columbia, MO/Father Tolton), a transfer from Truman State who pitched three seasons for the Bulldogs, is also expected to fill one of the starter roles with the Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule format slated to have teams playing a four-game weekend series.

While the starting rotation will have a group of veterans, the relief corps will consist of a number of newcomers.  Drew Saunders (St. Louis, MO/Ladue Horton Watkins) and David Kephart (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley Northwest) are the only projected relievers that saw significant time out of the bullpen a year ago, as Saunders made three appearances and struck out six in his time on the mound, while Kephart made five appearances and struck out 11 in 11 innings.

Among the newcomers in the mix for bullpen roles this spring are freshmen Nate Wodka (Allen, TX/Allen), Kyle Fowler (Foristell, MO/St. Dominic) and Matt Kaiser, along with fellow freshmen Dylan Mollett (St. Louis, MO/Oakville) and lefty Elijah Gross (Lee's Summit, MO/Lee's Summit West).  Fowler struck out 31 batters in 32 innings in the 2019 season at St. Dominic High School – the pandemic prevented teams from playing a 2020 season – while Kaiser recorded a 1.83 earned run average at Vianney during his 2019 campaign.

Gross recorded a 5-2 record and a 2.15 earned run average in 11 games in 2019 at Lee's Summit West High School while striking out nearly one batter per inning pitched and Wodka was a top hurler for his team in Allen, Texas.

Missouri S&T's season is scheduled to begin Sunday as it takes part in a two-day event at Missouri Southern in Joplin.  The Miners will face Missouri Western on Sunday and Monday and will also take on the host Lions in a game following their contests with Western on both days.

Missouri Western finished 8-15 in 2020 after posting a 21-24 mark in 2019, while Missouri Southern is already 3-0 after sweeping Flagler in early February.  The Lions were 16-5 when the 2020 schedule was halted and had a 35-21 mark the previous year that included a trip to the NCAA Division II Central Regional.

The Miners will also face Missouri-St. Louis in a four-game non-conference series during the first weekend of March – the teams are not scheduled to play in GLVC games this season – before they open their 32-game conference slate March 12 against Indianapolis at the S&T Ballpark.

Missouri S&T was picked to finish fourth in the GLVC Green Division for the upcoming season by the league coaches in the pre-season poll released on Wednesday.   S&T was picked to finish behind Quincy, Illinois Springfield and Drury in the divisional race.