FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Indiana Tech baseball team opens its 2016 campaign this weekend with a pair of doubleheaders against Bethel College and Miami (Ohio) Hamilton in Westfield, Indiana.
 
Indiana Tech (0-0)
 
Saturday, Feb. 20, (9/7 inning DH) 1 p.m. vs. Bethel College (0-0) – Westfield, Indiana (Grand Park)
Sunday, Feb. 21, (9/7 inning DH) 1 p.m. vs. Miami (Ohio) Hamilton (0-0) – Westfield, Indiana (Grand Park)
 
Head Coach Kip McWilliams: Now in his ninth season at the helm for the Warriors baseball program, McWilliams as an overall record of 270-180-1, with eight appearances in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) Championship game and six trips to the NAIA National Tournament. While at Tech, the Indiana graduate has won four WHAC Tournament titles and one regular season title in addition to making postseason appearances six times, once in the old regional format and five times making to the NAIA Opening Round. He has coached 74 WHAC All-Academic honorees, 36 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes, 30 WHAC Players of the Week, 27 Honorable Mention All-WHAC selections, 22 All-Conference WHAC members, 11 WHAC Gold Glove recipients, three WHAC Players of the Year, three Honorable Mention All-Americans, two Warriors of the Month, one WHAC Pitcher of the Year, one Preseason All-American and one Second-Team All-American in 2015 graduate Romer Portes.
 
Scouting the Opposition: Bethel – The Pilots finished 18-27 (11-17 Crossroads League) last spring and NCCAA North Central All-Region First-Team pitcher Caleb MacPherson. As a sophomore he lead the team in wins (6), ERA (2.24), innings pitched (80.1), and strikeouts (46). Offensively, Bethel returns four of their top five threats from a season ago led by sophomore Eric Kelver. As a freshman, he finished second on the team in hits (45) and was second on the team in doubles (13) and batting average (.313). He was also second best on the squad in RBIs (21) and slugging percentage (.444). Rounding out the top four returning batters are sophomore Jesse Zepeda, senior Nicholas McDonald, and junior Cam Gallaway. That trio combined for 124 hits, including 16 doubles and 43 RBIs last season.
 
Miami-Hamilton – The Harriers have won the Ohio Regional Campus Conference (ORCC) Championship or ORCC State Championship every year for the last 15 years. Last year's stats were not available.
 
Series Notes: Bethel – Tech is 4-2 against the Pilots since April 4, 2006 most recently splitting a doubleheader last year. The Warriors fell 3-0 in game one before winning 11-9 in game two. Romer Portes and Peyton Newsom both hit home runs in game two while Matt Bandor went 2-3 with three runs.
 
Miami-Hamilton – The Warriors are 3-0 against the Harriers since March 23, 2011, most recently winning 7-2 on March 27, 2012.
 
Wrapping Up Last Year: Tech 32-27 overall and 19-14 in WHAC play a year ago and advanced to the WHAC Championship and forcing a winner-take-all game against second seed and fifth-ranked Davenport before falling 5-4.
 
Playing Against the Best: The Warriors have never shied away from playing against some of the best teams in the country under McWilliams tenure, with 178 games against teams ranked or receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25 Poll. 40 of those opponents have been in the top 10. This season is no different as the Orange and Black faces three teams ranked over receiving votes in the Preseason Coaches' Poll, #6 Davenport, #17 UNOH and (RV) Madonna. #14 Tennessee Wesleyan and (RV) St. Catharine also dotted the schedule, but those games were cancelled due to weather.

Offensive Outlook: The trio of Tighe Koehring, Brian Hakes and Peyton Newsome will look to carry the Warriors offense this spring. Koehring was second on the team in average (.357) last year as a freshman and had 45 hits while driving in 26 runs. Hakes batted .307 and was second on the team in runs batted in (RBI) (48) and home runs (five). Newsome batted .277 with 43 hits, 47 RBI, 13 doubles, and four home runs in 2015.
 
Pitching Outlook: McWilliams returns his top three pitchers in terms of innings pitched a season ago in Chase Keathley, James McReynolds and Connor McLaughlin. All three recorded four victories in 2015 while McReynolds hurled a team-high three complete games en route to a 2.80 earned run average (ERA) and team-best 50 strike outs. McLaughlin went 4-1 in six starts, recording 38 strikeouts in 51.1 innings. Keathley threw a team-high 64.2 innings last season while sporting a 3.20 ERA with 30 strikeouts.

Regional Team: Tech is loaded with players not only from the Hoosier State, but also around the Midwest. 17 Warriors are home-grown, six call the Buckeye State home, four come from Illinois and three hail from Michigan. The Orange and Black also feature five players from California while one player is from Canada.
 
Poll Thoughts: The Warriors were picked to finish fourth in the WHAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, the same place they finished the 2015 campaign. Defending tournament champion Davenport was picked to finish first, while regular season champion UNOH was voted second. Madonna was slotted one slot ahead of Tech while Cornerstone was one spot behind. Aquinas, Siena Heights, Concordia, Lourdes and Marygrove round out the poll.