The Wabash baseball team opens the 2020 season this weekend with three games scheduled at the Grand Park facility in Westfield, Indiana. The Little Giants begin play Saturday against 2019 Division III World Series qualifier Heidelberg University at 3 p.m. Wabash plays two games Sunday against the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point at 11 a.m. and against DIII regional qualifier Baldwin Wallace University at 2:30 p.m.
 
Wabash boasted a 21-19 record last season under head coach Jake Martin and earned a place in the North Coast Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament for the second consecutive season. The Little Giants won a school-record 32 games in 2018, captured the NCAC Tournament title, and played all the way to the DIII regional championship game before being eliminated.
 
Four of the eight everyday starters return for the 2020 Wabash squad. The experience for the Little Giants resides on the corners of the infield and outfield. Senior Jackson Blevins is the top returning hitter after batting .367 with 34 RBI and three home runs in 39 starts at first base for Wabash. Henry Wannemuehler played in 25 games with 20 starts at third base. He has started 91 games at third base since arriving as a freshman with a career .240 batting average and .332 on-base percentage.
 
Juniors Matthew Annee and Andrew Jumonville have been fixtures in the Wabash lineup since the first game of their freshmen season. Annee hit .304 last season with five home runs and 35 runs batted in. Jumonville drove in 19 runs in 40 games with a .290 batting average and a .388 on-base percentage.
 
"We are a very veteran team on the corners," Martin said. "We feel blessed to have players like Wannemuehler and Blevins at third and first base and corner outfielders Annee and Jumonville. Annee has hit in the middle of the lineup since the day he arrived on campus. Jumonville has been a consistent defender in right field and has also hit in the middle of the order. Blevins is another player who has cemented a spot in the middle of the order since coming to Wabash. Wannemuehler has been a reliable defender at third base for three years.
 
"We've got a good mix of chemistry and experience with those guys. All four were on the field when we won the 2018 NCAC title and played to the championship game of the regional. I think having those guys who know what it takes and can control the emotions of the two younger guys in the infield is a huge bonus."
 
The Little Giants will need to establish replacements up the middle defensively with the graduation of starting shortstop Eric Chavez and starting second baseman Sean Roginski, the Wabash all-time leader with 208 hits. Starting catcher and the leading hitter for the Little Giants in 2019, Erich Lange, also graduated, as did starting outfielder Jared Wolfe. Cameron Martin played in 25 games last year in the outfield in addition to his role as a pinch hitter and pinch runner. He started 15 games in 2019 and finished the season with a .324 on-base percentage with 11 runs scored.
 
"Losing Jared Wolfe as an outfielder is tough, but Martin has been a player in waiting for a while," Martin said. "We're excited to add him to the everyday lineup. He's been a pinch hitter and runner for us along with some spot starts in the outfield. He's stolen some bases on offense and provides good speed in the outfield. It's his time now and I'm excited to see him in an everyday role."
 
Austin Simmers started 18 games at third base as a freshman but will move to second base to start the 2020 season. The sophomore hit .329 in his rookie campaign with a .412 on-base percentage.
 
"We'll play around with moving Simmers to second base," Martin said. "He is really more of a natural second baseman. Josh Weidenbenner will start as a freshman at shortstop. Simmers and Weidenbenner were teammates at Jasper High School. They've played a lot of baseball together so we're hoping to draw on some of that former team chemistry from that duo up the middle. We have some nice depth there, as well, with sophomore Felix Valero who's done a nice job developing over the past year."
 
Junior Canton Terry and sophomore Drew Prather should split early time behind the plate for the Little Giants. Terry hit .318 as a designated hitter and pinch hitter last season. Prather, a sophomore, did not see any varsity action in his first season as a Little Giant.
 
"Terry logged a lot of at bats as a designated hitter and pinch hitter," Martin added. "Drew really grew a lot from year one to year two. He's done a nice job defensively and had a solid fall practice season for us offensively, as well. I think those two will be a nice combination behind the plate. We also have a couple of young catchers in Liam Patton and Max Kercheval who will compete for some playing time. Both are close to being ready to play baseball at the collegiate level. Liam may also see some time as a pinch hitter."
 
Wabash brings back eight veteran pitchers from last year's team, including two-time All-NCAC closer Zach Moffett. The senior right-hander picked up four wins to go with four saves last season. Moffett owns the Wabash career record for saves with 17 and is second in career games finished with 40. Tyler Dearing posted two wins in 48-2/3 innings pitched last season. He started eight games for the Little Giants and will start Saturday's opener versus Heidelberg.
 
Lefty Dylan Scheid picked up three wins in eight starts as a freshman last season. Sean Smith appeared in 11 games with eight starts in 2019 and will be part of the starting rotation in 2020.
 
"Our plan is to figure out how we can get to Zach as much as possible," Martin said. "When you have a pitcher like him who can close out a game you want to put the game in his hands as much as possible. Early in the season we might have to use more pitchers to get there than we would in the conference portion of the season where you might go straight from the starter to the closer.
 
"With those three veteran starters of Dearing, Scheid, and Smith combined with a closer the job becomes finding a fourth starter and filling the gaps between the starters and Moffett. I believe we have a good group of pitchers that provide options. We can bring in a left-hander, a right-handed submariner, or a guy with a big overhand breaking ball. Eric Lakomek had a lot of appearances last year. Logan Butrum is a guy we can go to out of the bullpen but could also be that fourth starter. Parker Noll and Eric Murphy are good senior arms for us. Freshman Jacob Bishop had a nice fall for us. First-year pitcher Mitch Bertrand is a nice arm that we feel can be a short-inning reliever. Ryan Bradtke has pitched well in practice for us. We feel we have quality depth. That's what we've been trying to build over the past three or four years in the recruiting process."
 
Wabash will travel to Tucson, Arizona, March 8-13 during the College's spring break before returning to Indiana to face Franklin College on March 17 in the home opener at Goodrich Ballpark.