ROLLA, Mo. – The 52nd season of Missouri S&T Baseball will get underway this weekend at the Ballpark at S&T as the Miners will welcome a familiar Opening Day opponent to town in the form of Minnesota Crookston for a four-game series beginning Saturday. Inclement weather forecasted to impact the region in the latter half of the week necessitated an adjustment to the weekend's schedule. Game one, a nine-inning affair, will be played Saturday at 2 PM, games two and three will be played as a doubleheader Sunday starting at 12 PM and will be seven and nine innings respectively, and the series finale, a single nine-inning game, will be played Monday at 1 PM.
 
"We're ready to play somebody other than ourselves and see someone else in that other dugout," said DeGraffenreid. "There's a lot of optimism that we have right now among the roster and the coaching staff and plenty of opportunities for guys to show what they have early."
 
The Miners, picked to finish sixth in the GLVC's Blue Division this season, return a significant core group of players from last year, led by infielders Will Hayes (Terre Haute, IN/South Vigo), who was among the league leaders in hitting last year, as he posted a .393 average while scoring 44 runs, driving in 27, and stealing 20 bases, along with St. James product Andrew Branson (St. James, MO/St. James), who started 36 games in his first season in a Miner uniform and posted a .339 average to go with 10 doubles, two homeruns and 23 runs batted in.
 
Hayes' double play partner Doug Wood (Liberty, MO/Liberty North) also returns after batting .320 with three homeruns and 32 RBI last season while the outfield sees the return of Dakota Sill (Lansing, KS/Lansing) (.333 AVG, 6 XBH, 18 RBI), Brady Voss (Lake St. Louis, MO/Liberty) (.304 AVG, 10 XBH, 24 RBI) and Tate Morrell (Lloydminster, AB/) (.289 AVG, 3 HR, 22 RBI).
 
The departure of 2021 Second Team All-GLVC selection Michael Ward (Hazelwood, MO/Hazelwood West) leaves a void to fill at first base, and the Miners will turn to Garrett Weiner (Alton, IL/Marquette) (.307 AVG, 3 HR, 38 RBI) and Aaron Berkhoff (Colorado Springs, CO/Cheyenne Mountain) (.244 AVG, 2 2B), along with Christian Montes de Oca (El Paso, TX/Franklin) and Evan Crawford (Bettendorf, IA/Pleasant Valley) to anchor that position in 2021. Cole Hampton (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville), Logan Alexander (Olathe, KS/Olathe Northwest) and Chase Burgess (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley West) all return and will look to compete for playing time on the infield while the outfield welcomes junior college transfer Tommy Reuther and also returns Jaden Courtois (Festus, MO/Jefferson) and Jack Arbuckle (Webster Groves, MO/Webster Groves).
 
Behind the plate, Braden Mahurin (Dixon, MO/Dixon) is back after hitting .298 in 15 games last season and is joined by fellow returners Michael Hughes (St. Clair, MO/St. Clair) and Matt Souza (Escondido, CA/Christian).
 
On the mound, S&T returns all but two arms who saw action last season, led by starter Cade Meier (Dakota, IL/Dakota) and reliever David Kephart (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley Northwest). Meier led the staff with five wins in 11 appearances and made 10 starts and struck out 46 batters in 58 innings, both of which led the team. Kephart made 16 appearances out of the bullpen last season and posted a 2-1 record with three saves as he posted a 4.45 ERA and struck out 16 over 28.1 innings of work.
 
Seniors Dylan Dunbar (West Plains, MO/West Plains) (2-4, SV, 25 K, 23 IP) and Chasen Anderson (Moscow Mills, MO/Troy Buchanan) (0-0, 8 K, 9.2 IP) and junior Scott Henrich (West Bend, WI/West Bend) all return, as a do a large group of sophomores who all saw action in 2021 including Dylan Mollett (St. Louis, MO/Oakville) (4-0, 14 GP, 27.1 IP), Elijah Gross (Lee's Summit, MO/Lee's Summit West) (2-2, SV, 26.1 IP), Mick Von Feldt (St. Charles, IA/Interstate 35) (0-0, 9 GP, 13.2 IP) and Nate Wodka (Allen, TX/Allen) (1-4, 10 GP, 21 K), along with Matt Ellingson (Lenexa, KS/Olathe Northwest), Treyton Ruth (Rolla, MO/Rolla) and Kyle Fowler (Foristell, MO/St. Dominic).
 
Several newcomers join the staff and figure to contribute right away, including junior college transfer Ben Belgrave (Cary, IL/Cary-Grove) and freshmen Jacob Cook (Chicago, IL/Minooka Community), Kyle Athmer (Breese, IL/Breese Central Community), Estin McBroom (Monett, MO/Monett) and Ethan Morrow (Lenexa, KS/Shawnee Mission West).
 
Minnesota Crookston (3-6) was idle over the weekend after nine games completed in the first two weeks of the season. The Golden Eagles last played a six-game series against Hawai'i-Hilo and avoided a sweep at the hands of the Vulcan with a 1-0 win the finale behind a complete-game effort from Jake Dykhoff, who is 2-0 on the young season and has yet to allow a run in 12 innings of work while retiring 15 batters via the strikeout. Alex Koep has Crookston's other win on the mound and has recorded a 0.84 ERA with a team-leading 20 strikeouts in 10 2/3 innings. That duo has combined for just five walks in their four combined appearances.
 
At the plate, the Golden Eagles are led by Matt Nunn, who is hitting .348 through nine games with five homeruns and a team-leading four stolen bases. Brad Morris is the only other player hitting above .300 at .324 with a pair of doubles and has driven in three. UMC's power has come in the persons of Jake Hjelle, who is hitting .265 with 13 strikeouts but has gone deep three times and has driven in seven runs with five of his nine hits going for extra bases, and Ben Thoma, who likewise has three big flys and has seven runs batted in but is batting .212 with eight strikeouts. As a team, Crookston is hitting .218 has struck out 62 opponents while posting a 5.65 ERA.
 
The two teams last played to open the 2016 season, with S&T sweeping the Golden Eagles in the series by scores of 10-4, 8-7, 14-5 and 9-1.