The 2020 West Virginia Wesleyan Baseball season will be underway in under twenty-four hours, as the Bobcats take on Pitt-Johnstown in a four game series this weekend in Myrtle Beach, SC. The weekend will consist of two doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday, both starting at noon. Games will be played at the Ripken Experience Complex.

Returning to the heart of the Bobcats' order is Senior C/OF Eric Forbrick. Last week the Orlando native was named Preseason All-Region, and he is expected to once again be one of the top hitters in the Mountain East Conference. After hitting .363 with 12 HR and 44 RBI a season ago, Coach Randy Tenney is going to need similar production out of him again in 2020. Joining Forbrick in the middle of the lineup are Adrian Delgado and Nick Grotti. Despite being a junior, Delgado has not played more than five games for Wesleyan due to injury. However, he has shown good power and has made consistent hard contact throughout the offseason, and his healthy presence will be a welcome one this season. Grotti is a junior infielder that may likely bounce between third base and shortstop, but will always find his bat in the lineup. He is coming off a .340/3/22 season as a sophomore, and should be able to build on that performance and become more of a run producer as a junior. 

On the pitching side, Griffin Roe will be the most experienced weekend starter for the 'Cats. The senior from Florida tossed 48.1 innings last season, striking out 45 and walking 33. Along with fellow senior Julio Medina, the two seniors have to be more consistent in 2020 in order to lead the weekend rotation. Both guys battled through tough stretches last season, and the handful of dominant outings that they did put together, will have to show up more often in their final season in the black and orange. Medina is one of the most talented arms in the MEC, throwing in the low nineties with solid put-away breaking stuff. The issue for him in the past has been control, however if he can command the zone with his fastball early in counts, there will not be many offenses that will cause him trouble. Kyle Riggleman and Jake Hakey will be the only two returners out of the bullpen from last season, and should give Coach Tenney back-end length when needed. 

Due to a large group of departing seniors from the 2019 season, this 2020 team will feature many new faces in starting roles. As Coach Tenney mentioned in his season preview interview, the early part of the season, and especially the trip to Myrtle Beach, is to find out who is going to play their way into these open spots. Due to the inexperience, the Bobcats were selected to finish fourth in the South Division in the MEC Preseason Poll. The potential star power with Forbrick and Medina give this team greater potential than others selected to finish ahead of them, but they will need new faces to step up and be positive contributors come Mountain East Conference play in March. 

After the trip to Myrtle Beach, the Bobcats will wait three weeks before their Spring Break Trip to Florida where they will play twelve games as part of the RussMatt Tournament. The MEC Schedule opens with Frostburg State at home March 14th. 

Live video and statistical coverage of games will not consistently be available on the early season trips, however coverage will be provided at @WVWCBaseball on Twitter. For all home games this season, there will be live statistical coverage, as well as a live broadcast that will feature play-by-play and color announcing from Nate Chase and/or Lucas Trovato.