The Francis Marion University baseball team will open its 2021 season with a home Peach Belt Conference series against the eighth-ranked Georgia College Bobcats. The first pitch is set for 4 p.m. Saturday (Feb. 13) followed by a doubleheader on Sunday at 1 p.m. (Feb. 14).

Admission to Sparrow Stadium in the Griffin Athletic Complex will be limited to 250 spectators, including only FMU season ticket holders, FMU students who pick up free tickets prior to first pitch, and family members of FMU team members who purchase tickets beforehand. No walk-up day-of-game ticket sales will be available. Spectators will be required to wear masks and social distancing will be observed. 

Francis Marion head coach Art Inabinet is entering his 21st season at the helm of Patriot baseball and 23rd season overall at FMU. When the Patriots take the field on Saturday it will mark his 1000th game as head coach at Francis Marion University, where he has compiled a 610-387-2 record. He owns an overall career mark of 694-441-2 in 23 seasons. Inabinet welcomes back 24 lettermen from last year's 12-9 squad, and has added 12 newcomers and three redshirt freshmen. Among the returnees are seven of eight position starters, the designated hitter, and 10 pitchers.

"It's been a long time since we last took the field against Chowan on March 11 (2020), and had to tell the guys the season was over two days later," Inabinet said.

On March 13, 2020, at 2 p.m. the Peach Belt Conference made the decision to cancel the rest of the 2020 season. "We were planning to leave for an away series at Lander," said relief pitcher Christian Umphlett. "I remember all of us sitting in the locker room just waiting for the Peach Belt (Conference) to make their decision. It was either we are getting on the bus to go play a series or we're not getting on the bus, and our season is over. That day was tough… it wasn't very fun."

"We've had an extended amount of time with the guys to prepare for this season," said Inabinet. "We've usually gotten a couple of games under our belt by now. This extra time has really helped prepare us, and get our pitching ready. It has given us a chance to raise our allowable pitch counts a little higher."

"The goals and expectations are never changing. Right now our sights are set to win the Peach Belt Conference regular season," said Inabinet.

"We have a lot of players that I'm looking to step up. This season we have to play well on defense and swing the bats well to give ourselves chances, so we don't put too much pressure on our pitchers. Seniors Leniel Gonzalez and Todd Mattox are two of our leaders and most experienced players. They will need to step up and play well for us to be in the mix this season."

Gonzalez (C-DH) and Mattox (3B) are two of 13 players named to the 2021 preseason All-Conference squad.

Gonzalez, a Sumter native, started all 19 games during the shortened 2020 season. He recorded a .356 batting average with five doubles, two home runs, 14 runs batted in, and a team-leading on-base percentage of .500. He registered seven multi-hit games, reached base safely in 15 of 19 games, and logged a team-best on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) of 1.076. Among his hits were the squad's latest walk-off hit, a homer against Young Harris College on Feb. 28, 2020. He was an All-Conference selection as a junior in 2019.

Mattox, a Winnsboro native, started all 19 games at third base for the Patriots in 2020. He recorded a team-high .357 batting average with six doubles, two triples, two home runs, and a team-leading 23 RBIs. Mattox had nine multi-hit games, reached base safely in 16 of 19 games, and batted .483 with runners in scoring position. 

Other returners to look out for include graduate infielder Grayson Cottingham of Florence (.236, 2 HRs, 10 RBIs); senior outfielder Bill Hanna of Lake City (.278, 7 RBIs, 5 SBs); senior infielder Tyler Mangum of Durham, N.C. (.316, 7 RBIs); senior first baseman Darius Nobles of Greenville, N.C. (.286, 1 HR, 7 RBIs); junior outfielder Will Hardee of Evergreen (.235, 1 HR, 5 RBIs); junior outfielder Brett Kemp of Wilmington, N.C. (.313, 7 RBIs); junior infielder Tanner Wakefield of Gainesville, Ga. (.326, 6 RBIs); and sophomore outfielder Jon-Mitchell Carter of Dillon (.200 average, 1 HR, 8 RBIs).
 
Among the returning hurlers are senior left-hander Weston Rogers of Mullins (2-2, 4.60 ERA); senior righties Daniel Twitty of Sumter (2-2, 3.28), Chad Wallen of Brunswick, Ga., (1-0, 1 save, 1.00), and Bailey Wendel (of Wilmington, Del. (1-0, 2 saves, 1.06); and sophomore righty Jack Hegan of Bluffton (0-0, 0.00 in four games).  Umphlett returns as a graduate student for his fifth season. The Charlotte native was 1-1 last season with four saves and a 1.96 earned run average.  He holds the Patriot career record for most relief appearances (67) and is only five games shy of the FMU mark for all mound appearances.

Newcomers who could make an immediate impact are freshman outfielder Kolby Crepeau of Lake Wylie; freshman left-handed pitcher Chas DeBruhl of Kershaw; freshman right-handed pitcher Halton Hardy of Athens, Ga.; and junior right-hander Cory Poulsen of Bel-Air, Md.  Poulsen previously pitched at NCAA Division I University of Maryland-Eastern Shore, appearing in 27 games over two seasons.

According to Inabinet the probable starters for the opening series are Rogers for Saturday and Twitty and Hardy on Sunday.

As a team, Francis Marion batted .256 last season and averaged 6.4 runs per game, while Patriot pitchers held opponents to a .239 average with a 3.75 team ERA.
FMU's 2021 slate includes 22 home games and 17 on the road. The Peach Belt Tournament will be held May 7-9 and 14-16 at on-campus sites.
 
INABINET QUICK HITS
21 Years as Head Coach at FMU
23 Years at FMU
Record at FMU: 610-387-2
Winning Percentage: .611
Overall Record: 694-441-2
Overall Winning Percentage: .605
18-4 in season openers
The 6th win of the 2021 season will mark overall win No. 700