WVU Mountaineer Sports: Basketball | Football | News |WVU Baseball Season Opener Set for Friday

The West Virginia University baseball team will open its 2012 season Friday against Northwestern. It is part of the annual Big East/Big Ten Challenge in Clearwater, Florida.

WVU has more newcomers this season than returning players. That is a big reason why the Mountaineers are picked to finish 10^th in the Big East.

"It's kind of nice to be underdogs," Outfielder Brady Wilson said. "Those teams like Louisville and Connecticut had good years last year, so they have a lot of pressure on them. They have good players. I feel we have good players too. We have to go out there and take it game by game and see what happens."

Head Coach Greg Van Zant is entering his 18^th season leading WVU. Van Zant is still trying to figure out what kind of identity his team will have this spring.

"I'll be honest with you, I don't really know who is going to be playing," Van Zant said. "I tried to make up a lineup the other day and I couldn't do it. Other than Brady Wilson leading off and Matt Frasier hitting fourth, I couldn't come up with a lineup. A lot of who is going to be playing for us is going to be determined by what they do moving forward."

The biggest key for most successful teams in baseball lies in its pitching staff. WVU figures to have a pretty good staff this season. It is young, but also experienced.

"I really like our arms," Wilson said. "We have a lot of depth this year. Last year we didn't really have a lot of depth. We had to rely on the younger players. This year we have a lot of pitchers that can come out of the bullpen and pitch. I like our pitching better than I did last year. From what I've seen so far, our arms are pretty strong."

WVU faces a difficult schedule, not only in opponents but travel. The Mountaineers will play 14 of their first 15 opponents on the road.

"We've got four consecutive weekends on the road. We're going to Tampa for the Big East/Big Ten Challenge. We're going to Myrtle Beach for baseball at the beach, we're going to the Metrodome in Miinneapolis for the Dairy Queen Classic and then out to Oregon to play in that new Nike Showcase, which is awesome."

The beginning of the season should allow enough time for the Mountaineers to find an identity. If they do, they could be setup for a run in March. WVU will play 11 games in 12 days, all at the friendly confines of Hawley Field in Morgantown.

West Virginia opens its season Friday against Northwestern. WVU will also play Penn State, Iowa and Michigan State as part of the Big East/Big Ten Challenge in Clearwater, Florida this weekend.