RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – For the third-straight season and sixth overall, the Arkansas Tech baseball team is set to open their season at the home of the Houston Astros and take part in the annual Houston Winter Invitational, hosted by the University of Central Missouri.
 
This year, the Wonder Boys will be one of five teams taking part in the three-day event, joining the likes of host Central Missouri, Arkansas-Fort Smith, Lubbock Christian and St. Mary's (TX). Over the course of Opening Weekend, the Wonder Boys are scheduled to play St. Mary's on Friday, Central Missouri on Saturday and Lubbock Christian on Sunday.
 
With a scheduled first-pitch time of 10 a.m. on Friday morning for Tech's first game of the weekend against St. Mary's, and with Tech designated as the home team, the Wonder Boys will have the historical honor of throwing the first pitch in a NCAA college baseball game at any level since last March 16 when spring sports were abruptly canceled due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
Remarkably, it will have been 320 days between pitches.
 
Returning junior right-hander Patrick Miner is slated to have the honor of delivering that initial pitch of the 2021 season for the Wonder Boys. It will be Miner's first collegiate start as his previous 15 appearances for the Wonder Boys have come in relief.
 
Prior to the cancelation of the 2020 season, the Wonder Boys were starting to gain some momentum and had won two-straight and five of their last six games after beginning the season 5-11. This year, thanks to COVID eligibility relief, the Wonder Boys return virtually their entire roster.
 
Among those returning players, four batted over .300, including the top hitter in terms of average in Stormy Taylor, who batted .354 last year (29-for-82). Not far off his average was Evan Hafley at .353 (31-for-88). Hafley also led the team in home runs and RBIs with seven homers and 28 RBIs a year ago.
 
On the mound, the Wonder Boys return 10 arms that pitched in 2020. The lowest returning ERA among those is Will Horton. In five relief outings that totaled 9.0 innings of work, Horton posted a 3.00 ERA and struck out 12. Four other pitchers return that logged over 20.0 innings last year in Armando Romero, Shelby Quiggins, Riyan Rodriguez and Hayes Cox. Romero, Quiggins and Cox also registered 30 or more strikeouts each.
 
Leading the Wonder Boys once more is Dave Dawson. The all-time winningest coach in Tech Baseball history, Dawson enters his 12^th year in the dugout for the Wonder Boys. In his previous 11 seasons, Dawson has guided amassed a 325-229 record. He has also had six seasons with 30 or more wins which includes the 2014 season in which he led the team a program-record 44 wins and hosting rights for that year's Central Region Tournament.
 
SCOUTING ST. MARY'S
The Rattlers head into the 2021 season picked to finish fifth in the stout Lone Star Conference. Last year, prior to the cancelation of the season, The Rattlers were 12-10 overall and 12-10 in the LSC. They opened the year 5-0 before dropping nine of their next 10 games. Like Tech, St. Mary's was starting to get things rolling right before the abrupt end of the season as they had won six of their last seven games.
 
The Rattlers also bring back virtually their entire lineup from a year ago. Among those returning, three hit over .300 with CJ Rincondo leading the way at an even .400 clip (26-for-65). Johnny Hernandez is the returning home run leader as he parked three last season. The top RBI-man back is Josh Malone as he drove in 21 in 2020.
 
On the mound, the Rattlers return all four of their primary starters as well as their top reliever from a year ago. Dylan Bells brings the lowest returning ERA among starters as he held a 4.39 ERA in 26.2 innings of work. The top reliever back for St. Mary's is Johnny Panatex. In eight appearances that spanned across 16.0 innings of work, Panatex went 2-0 with a save and struck out 16.
 
Leading the Rattlers in the dugout is Charlie Migl, who is entering his 35^th year at St. Mary's. A DII National Champion in 2001, Migl has amassed a career record of 1,220-582-1 and is the winningest active coach in NCAA DII.
 
SCOUTING CENTRAL MISSOURI
Perennial baseball powerhouse Central Missouri was in the midst of another great season last year as the Mules were a consensus national top-five team and had posted a 20-3 overall record and were 8-0 in the MIAA before the cancelation of the year due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
This year, the Mules are ranked No. 5 in the Collegiate Baseball preseason poll and thanks, in part, to COVID eligibility relief, return a majority of their roster from a year ago.
 
From their lineup, the Mules had seven players that had played in at least 20 games bat over .300 with three at or above the .400 mark. Six of those seven are back and include their five top hitters in terms of average. The top returning Mule position player is Dusty Stroup. In 22 games played, Stroup batted .453 (39-for-86) with 12 doubles, a triple and 10 home runs. He also drove in 24. His doubles and home runs ranked in the top-three in DII while his total bases of 83 led DII. Not far off the monster numbers by Stroup was the production of Cole Taylor. Taylor was second on the team in terms of average at .417 (35-for-84) and tied for second in home runs with eight while leading the team in RBIs with 32.
 
On the mound, the Mules return 2/3 of their weekend rotation with the lone non-returner being drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies. Among those returning weekend starters are Collin Jones and Mason Green. The two combined for a 5-0 record and 67 strikeouts in 58.2 innings of work. The Mules also have their top-three relievers back in Evan Rathburn, Tyler Kuhlmann and Connor Dryer. Combined that trio appeared in 21 games and allowed just seven earned runs in 33.1 innings while also registering 40 strikeouts.
 
The Mules are led by head coach Kyle Crookes, who is entering his seventh season at Central Missouri. In his previous six seasons as head coach, Crookes has continued the storied tradition of Mules Baseball and led the team to a 210-91 record. In their last full season of play in 2019, Crookes led the Mules to the DII College World Series where they finished third. It was the second trip to the World Series under Crookes as he led them in 2016.
 
SCOUTING LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN
The Chaparrals are set to enter the 2021 season looking to bounce back from a uncharacteristic 2020 season in which they finished the COVID-19-shortened campaign 7-17 overall and 7-17 in the Lone Star Conference. With that in their most-recent past, the Chaps are picked to finish eighth in the LSC Preseason Coaches poll.
 
In 2021, the Chaps return 20 players overall. Larry Leitha is the top returning regular in terms of average at .291 (25-for-86). He also finished second on the team in RBIs with 15 as the top returning RBI-man, Luis Navarro had 16. Navarro also led the team in home runs with four but hit .216 (16-for-74).
 
On the mound, LCU returns five of their top six pitchers in terms of innings pitched. The top returning arm is starter Ty Stephenson. Despite going 0-3 on his W-L record, Stephenson had a 3.45 ERA and struck out 42 in 44.1 innings of work.
 
The Chaps are coached by Nathan Blackwood, who is entering his 18^th season at Lubbock Christian. In his past 17 years at the helm, Blackwood has amassed a record of 665-286.