The Francis Marion University baseball team will open its 2023 season with a non-conference series against the Newberry College Wolves this weekend. The series will consist of two road games and one home contest.

The first pitch is set for 4 p.m. on Friday (Feb. 3) followed by Saturday (Feb. 4) at 2 p.m., both at the Smith Road Complex in Newberry. The series caps off with the Patriots' home opener on Sunday (Feb. 5) at 2 p.m. on Cormell Field at Sparrow Stadium in the Griffin Athletic Complex.

Single-day tickets for FMU home games are $10 for adults, $5 for students, or free with an FMU student ID.

Francis Marion head coach Art Inabinet is entering his 23rd season at the helm of Patriot baseball and his 25th season overall at FMU. As head coach at Francis Marion University, he has compiled a 657-423-2 record. He owns an overall career mark of 741-477-2 in 24 seasons as a head coach. Inabinet welcomes back 21 lettermen from last year's 29-19 squad, and has added 14 newcomers. Among the returnees are four position starters and five starting pitchers.

Returnee and fifth-year senior outfielder Will Hardee will have a major impact on the Patriots' offensive identity this season. Hardee, a native of Evergreen, S.C., batted .405 in 2022 to become only the 11th Patriot to reach the .400 mark. He led the team in runs with 60, while compiling 22 doubles, 40 runs batted in, and ended the season with a 26-game hitting streak (third longest in program history).  He was recently named to the NCBWA preseason All-Southeast Region Team.

Other key returnees include fifth-year middle infielder and outfielder Tanner Wakefield of Gainesville, Ga. (.398, 17 doubles, 38 RBIs); senior infielder Naphis Llanos of Sanford, Fla. (.374); senior catcher Isaac Schuck of Reno, Nev. (.262); sophomore infielder Tyler Reynolds of Evans, Ga. (.333); and senior outfielder Jack Hegan of Bluffton, S.C. (.268).
 
"We expect Naphis, Tanner, and Will to hit in the first three slots of the lineup with those being our three best hitters back from last year," said Inabinet. "This year's team is going to be a little bit different. Last year, we had five all-conference position players and only two of those guys (Hardee and Wakefield) are back. In this year's group, we want to focus on making our pitching staff and our defensive unit better, and we feel like we are doing that. The runs and hits will come naturally, but we want to make these other areas a priority this season."

Inabinet gave a lot of praise when it came to the newcomers, specifically pointing out the transfer from Florence-Darlington Technical College and what we can expect from junior right-handed pitcher Landon Mills. With the Stingers, he was named the Region 10 Pitcher of the Year for 2022 with a 10-1 mark and a 2.69 earned run average.  "Landon has pitched extremely well in this off-season and will be an important piece to our pitching staff. He has a good arsenal of pitches and we expect him to make an immediate impact on the mound."

Among the returning hurlers are sophomore right-hander Robbie Jordan of Florence (8-3 record, 4.93 ERA); senior righty Matt Dooley of Lexington, S.C. (5-0, 3.94); fifth-year righty Nick Palumbo of Wayne, N.J. (2-2, 5 saves, 1.93); and junior southpaw Chas DeBruhl of Kershaw, S.C. (0-1).

Other newcomers who could make an immediate impact are freshmen infielder Charlie Bussey III of Graniteville, S.C.; junior outfielder Zack Summerville of Gastonia, N.C.; junior infielder Blake Falor of St. Augustine, Fla.; graduate student southpaw Luke Allain of Pottstown, Pa.; and junior righty Danny Leo of Centreville, Va.

Inabinet also mentioned the new mold of their bullpen and what to expect from those arms. "We have several guys in the bullpen that we are going to use as piggyback guys. Specifically, players that can go 2-to-4 innings and try and close the game out. The guys in this piggyback unit will be used this way instead of having a more traditional closer."

According to Inabinet, the probable starters for the opening series are Mills for game one on Friday, Jordan on Saturday, and likely Palumbo on Sunday.

When asked about the opening series and what he expects from his lineup, he said, "I just want us to compete and play at a high level. I want to see our pitchers show some toughness because we will be faced with some adversity this weekend against a Newberry team who won 38 games last year. I'm just looking for us to play at a high intensity in all areas and if we do that we will put ourselves in a position to be successful."

The 2023 schedule includes 21 home playing dates and a 30-game Conference Carolinas schedule. This will be Francis Marion's second year as a Conference Carolinas member. The  2023 Conference Carolinas Tournament is slated for May 3-7 at CaroMont Health Park in Gastonia, N.C.

Francis Marion was picked to finish fifth according to the 2023 Conference Carolinas Coaches' Preseason poll and Inabinet gave his thoughts on the squad's placement. "I don't put a lot of thought into the preseason poll, it is what it is, and it is not going to change how we prepare or play this season. Our guys will play hard no matter what ranking is attached to our program and that is our thought process."

FMU leads the all-time series with Newberry 50-40.  The Patriot program boasts an all-time winning percentage of .603 with 1,312 wins over the previous 50 seasons.