After several weather delays the Wabash baseball team is final ready to start its 2015 season Saturday.

The Little Giants will play a pair of games in Alabama against Anderson University before heading to Port Charlotte, Florida for a week of spring break games. The first two weeks of the season were cancelled due to snow and cold temperatures.

Entering the season Wabash may lack pitching experience, but it should have more than enough fielding and hitting experience to compensate. The Little Giants will return seven of their eight starting fielders, but just one starting pitcher from last season.

"That gives us quite a bit of confidence with the group we're going to put out there," Coach Cory Stevens said about his defense, which led the North Coast Athletic Conference with a 97.7 fielding percentage. "Having the defense behind our new starters is going to be a key to their confidence going into the season.

"At the plate, it's kind of the same story. We feel pretty good about the experience we have in the lineup."

Wabash finished 19-20 last year with an 11-9 NCAC record and lost in the first round of the conference tournament at Allegheny.

Sluggers Tyler Owensby and Clint Scarborough will man the heart of the lineup. Owensby hit .322 while Scarborough averaged .312, and the duo combined to drive in 55 runs.

"I'd say there's a little more pressure to produce to the highest levels of our capabilities to help our pitchers," Owensby said. "Having a very old and experienced starting nine, we know we're capable of a lot of things. It all comes down to being disciplined because we have the talent."

Center field will show the only non-pitching difference between 2014 and 2015. Trey Fankhauser '14 graduated and it's likely freshmen Austin Ellingwood or Taylor Canter will take his place. Owensby and Scarborough, the right and left fielders, respectively, will try to provide senior leadership on both sides.

"The freshmen will have their ups and downs so we'll try to mentor them through that," Owensby said. "If the struggle with the bat, we just need to remind them to have solid defensive play or vice versa."

The rest of the defense should be solid. Left to right, KJ Zelenika, Lucas Stippler, Tanner Watson, and David Oliger will man an impressive infield with Tyler Hampton behind the plate. Oliger hit a second-best  .349 last year and drove in 18 RBI. Watson hit .294 – mostly from the top of the order – while Stippler and Zelenika flashed leather on the left side of the infield in 38 and 39 games, respectively.

Wabash hit .287 has a team with a .367 slugging percentage. The Little Giants will have a balanced mix of guys that can play small ball or drive it in the gaps.

"They've refined their approach," Stevens said. "They know they have the ability to drive the ball into the gap, to hit doubles, or put the ball out of the park at times. But they also know that they'll be asked to do the small things when needed in order to set up the next guy in the order. It's not just a power game for them."

While the offense and defense will be expected to start strong, the pitching might take some time to settle. Three-fourths of the rotation – JT Miller, Ross Hendrickson, and Luke Holm – graduated last spring with Josh Piercey as the only holdover.

Piercey had a 4-3 record last year with a 4.53 earned-run average and a 1.74 strikeout-to-walk ratio. After serving as the fourth man in the rotation last year, Piercey will now be the staff ace.

"Over the last two years, I got to see JT Miller first hand and certainly tried to soak up everything I could from him," Piercey said. "Playing with him and the other guys that were on the staff prepared me to be in a position to lead. This year is time for people to step up."

A handful of players will need to step up, but there will likely be some drop off, especially with Miller gone. The three-time All-NCAC pitcher was 5-2 with a 2.01 ERA last year and had 56 strikeouts to just 12 walks.

"I don't know that you ever replace a JT Miller, Ross Hendrickson, or Luke Holm, but we just give guys opportunities and see what they can do with them," Stevens said. "Looking back, JT Miller obviously wasn't as dominant as a freshman. He adjusted as a sophomore and that's when he really stepped up.

"When guys like Matt Dedaro and Jake Thomas graduated, we said 'Jeez, what are we going to do to replace them?'" Stevens said, referring to past Little Giant stars. "Then John Holm and Chris Deig come along. I think we have guys in our program that will step up and make the most of their opportunities."

Stevens listed Alan Corey, Austin Hawn, Jensen Kirch, and Cameron Glaze as pitchers that could make an impact this year. Corey has the lowest returning ERA from last year at 3.94 after 16 innings of work.

The experience behind the mound will provide a confidence booster for the new pitchers.

"It makes things 10 times easier when you have the kind of offense and defense we have," Piercey said. "When you have guys like 'Stip' at short and Oliger at first, you know you don't have to do everything on your own because you can rely on the other people to make plays."