ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Central Washington University baseball gets it 2020 campaign started this weekend with a three-game road series at Stanislaus State.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Friday, Jan. 31
at Stanislaus State
3:00 p.m. PT
Warrior Baseball Field
Turlock, Calif.
 
Saturday, Feb. 1 (DH)
at Stanislaus State
12:00 & 3:30 p.m. PT
Warrior Baseball Field
Turlock, Calif.
 
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"The guys are excited to get on the field and have the season start. Stanislaus is a solid program, so it will be good for us to open against quality competition," CWU Head Coach Desi Storey said. "I expect the guys to come out and compete and our goal is to get off to a good start and use the non-conference slate of our schedule to get us ready for the GNAC play."
 
2020 SEASON OUTLOOK
The Wildcats are coming off a 2019 season that saw them go 16-31-1 overall and 13-27 in conference play to tie for fifth. The Wildcats went 4-8 in true home games and 7-19-1 in true road games. Neutral site contests saw CWU post a 5-4 record in those contests.
 
In all, the Wildcats bring back 23 players from a season ago, including six position starters. Where the Crimson and Black will feature new faces is on the mound with just two starting pitchers back from 2019.
 
Key returners for CWU include a pair of All-GNAC players in Justin Hampson and Mitch Lesmeister. Hampson was a First Team All-GNAC selection in 2019 after posting a .317 batting average. Lesmeister was the team's top hitter with 60 for the year and batted .353 to earn Second Team All-GNAC honors.
 
Senior Tyler Hoefer is also back for his final season. He posted a 2-2 record in 2019 for the Wildcats in 11 starts. He had 51 strikeouts for the season and posted a 5.51 ERA. Alongside Hoefer, Rhyse Frey, Colton Turner, JJ Asinas, Josh Touhey, and Ryan Marstiller will also make a return to the pitching staff in 2020.
 
The Wildcats also have a pair of new coaches on staff this year. Joining Head Coach Desi Storey in his 29th season at CWU will be Joel Johnson and Kramer Champlin.
 
Central will be on the road for its first three series before stepping onto its home diamond. All of the Wildcats home games this season will be against just GNAC opponents. Their three-game road series against Stanislaus State, Academy of Art and Corban (Ore.) will be the only non-conference games of the 2020 season.
 
2020 GNAC PRESEASON POLL
The Central Washington University baseball team was selected to finish fourth in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll.
 
Central received 15 points in the preseason poll, with one first place vote. Montana State Billings was selected to finish first with 33 points and four first place votes. Western Oregon received one first place vote and compiled 31 points.
 
Northwest Nazarene University sits in third with 22 points. Saint Martin's also garnered 15 point in the poll, however, they did not receive a first-place vote.
 
SCOUTING STANISLAUS STATE | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | 2019 STATS
The Warriors finished the 2019 season with a 30-23 mark overall and were 25-19 in the CCAA. SSU is preseason picked to finish fifth in the 2020 CCAA Coaches Poll.
 
The Warriors bring back the 2019 CCAA Freshman of the Year back on the hill in left-hander Rylan Tinsley. The Stockton, Calif. product struck out a CCAA Tournament-record 13 in 6.2 relief innings in his postseason debut last May.
 
Jack Large, the Warriors top hitter from 2019, is set to return this season for SSU. He batted .358 in 2019 and slugged .549. Also back is Grant Victor who had a .333 batting average and .409 OPS last season.
 
Tinsley is the lone starting pitcher from a season ago that is back for the Warriors. The 2019 CCAA Freshman of the Year appeared in 15 games and was a starter in 11. He was third in strikeouts with 67 and allowed just three homeruns last season. He posted a 3.88 ERA and finished 8-5 on the hill.
 
Warrior Skipper Kenny Leonesio enters his 18th season of leading SSU. He has an all-time record of 424-465.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Wildcats fell in their 2019 season finale drooping a pair of road games to Northwest Nazarene. CWU fell 21-4 and 6-5 to close out the 2019 campaign.
 
NNU won game one by a score of 21-4. The Nighthawks scored at least one run in every inning except two. They put up 16 runs in the first three innings with the help of four homerun's in the innings. NNU put up five runs in the first and then eight in the third inning.
 
Game two was a better start for the Wildcats. Jacob Forrester got the nod for the start which marked the first one in his career. The senior went three innings and didn't give up a single hit in the 11 batters that he faced. He struck out three batters and walked two on the day.
 
Going into the top of the fifth inning, the Wildcats were trailing 5-2. Central went on to add three runs in the inning. Central's four errors proved to be one of the things that hurt the Wildcats the most.
 
CWU vs. SSU HISTORY
The Wildcats are just 8-17 against the Warriors all-time. SSU has won each of the last 12 games against CWU. The two teams first met in the 1992 season.
 
The two teams met just once in 2019 after the three-game season opening series was canceled due to rain. In a lone game showdown on Feb. 11, the Warriors were victorious 7-5.
 
All 25 matchups between the Wildcats and Warriors have come during Head Coach Desi Storey's tenure at CWU. The last time CWU defeated SSU was in the 2007 season. The Wildcats swept the Warriors by final scores of 10-3, 13-1, and 7-2.