| WKU Baseball vs. Youngstown State | |
| Date | Time | Friday, Feb. 19 - Sunday, Feb. 21 | 3 p.m. (CT); 1:00 p.m.; 1 p.m. |
| Location | Bowling Green, Ky. | Nick Denes Field |
| Tickets | WKUSports.com | 1-800-5-BIGRED |
| Listen Live | WKUSports.tv |
| Live Stats | WKUSports.com |
| Game Notes | WKU Game Notes |
| Friday | LHP Austin King (WKU) vs. LHP Joe King (YSU) |
| Saturday | RHP Cody Coll (WKU) vs. RHP Jeremy Quinlan (YSU) |
| Sunday | LHP Ryan Thurston (WKU) vs. LHP Collin Floyd (YSU) |
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- After months of preseason work, WKU Baseball will begin the John Pawlowski era as the Hilltoppers get set to open the 2016 season by hosting Youngstown State for a three-game series that begins Friday, Feb. 19, at 3 p.m. CT from Nick Denes Field.
Following Opening Day, the Tops will play both games on Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m. CT. All three games can be heard locally on ESPN 1450 AM and 102.7 FM and online at WKUSports.tv. Games 1 and 3 will also be broadcast live on WKUSports.tv. Tickets are on sale now through the WKU Ticket Office, which can be reached online or by calling 1-800-5-BIGRED.
Pawlowski will have his first coaching action for WKU in the season opener after arriving on The Hill last summer. The veteran manager has earned 505 wins, 11 NCAA Tournament appearances and has developed 80 MLB Draft selections (50 pitchers) during his 14-year coaching tenure at the collegiate level. Pawlowski won over 60 percent of his games in nine seasons at College of Charleston, which included six seasons with at least 36 wins, three NCAA Regional appearances and a Super Regional appearance in 2006.
The Hilltoppers will begin their season at home for the eighth time in the last nine seasons after starting the 2015 campaign on the road. In those last seven opening series at home, WKU has posted a 12-7 record and won four of those series. WKU currently holds a 6-0 all-time record against the Penguins, with the last series coming in 2008.
After having two newcomers in its rotation for the opening weekend last season, the Hilltoppers will have some familiar faces to start the 2016 campaign as WKU returns a veteran staff that had 87.5 percent of its wins, 77.4 percent of its inning pitched and 73.5 percent of its strikeouts from a year ago. Senior left-hander Austin King will get the ball on Opening Day. King worked as WKU's primary Sunday starter last season and registered a team-high four quality starts.
WKU will throw out junior right-hander Cody Coll on Saturday before junior southpaw Ryan Thurston closes things out on Sunday. The Hilltoppers' rotation will face a pair of veteran arms in the opening two days in Youngstown State juniors Joe King (2-4, 4.18 ERA in 2015) and Jeremy Quinlan (3-6, 4.82 ERA in 2015), with Quinlan being rated the ninth-best Horizon League prospect for the 2017 draft by D1Baseball.com. Freshman Collin Floyd will be on the bump for the Penguins in the final game of the series.
Following the opening weekend, WKU will travel to Athens, Georgia, to take part in the Bulldog Invitational from Feb. 26-28, playing Cincinnati, Sun Belt Conference regular season champion South Alabama and host Georgia.
