MOUNT VERNON – Cornell baseball coach Seth Wing's opening day Game 1 lineup has a freshman batting leadoff and includes five sophomores and four juniors.
 
With only three seniors on a deep 64-man roster, the Rams are going to lean heavily on younger players to guide them through the 2022 season, which begins this weekend in Topeka, Kan.
 
Cornell gets a formidable foe right out of the chute with Sunday's 12 p.m. doubleheader against Luther at Bettis Family Sports Complex. The Norse are the defending American Rivers Conference Tournament champions and a 2021 NCAA Regional qualifier.
 
 The Rams graduated 17 seniors from last year's team that finished 14-24 and placed fourth in Midwest Conference South Division at 11-13. A perennial postseason contender, Wing's club is motivated to bounce back from an atypical 2021 spring campaign.
 
"This team has the potential, but we're still super young," said Wing, the program's winningest coach entering his 11th season on the Hilltop. "I fully expect us to be back to where we've been… in position to play in the conference tournament, to be right in the mix."
 
New this season, the MWC will go away from the traditional split of South and North Divisions. All nine conference teams will play a three-game series against each other. The top four teams qualify for the MWC Tournament May 13-14. 
 
The Rams are projected sixth in the MWC Preseason Coaches' Poll. They received 35 points, only two behind fourth-place Monmouth. Illinois College is the favorite with 62 points, followed by Chicago (54) and Beloit (52).
 
Junior shortstop James Kent heads Cornell's position players as a third-year starter. The left-handed hitter led the team in RBIs (33) and stolen bases (10) last season, while batting .277 and scoring 28 runs.
 
Sophomore center fielder Darren Mancke (.353 BA, .544 slugging %) and sophomore utility man Zac Stallman (.460, .700 slugging %) impressed as regular starters in their first collegiate seasons. Senior Tony Neuman, juniors Colin Gierula, Drew Logel and sophomores Alec Boldt and Aiden Monce also provide starting experience from a year ago.
 
Cornell's pitching staff is anchored by junior right-hander Kole Hinrichsen, who recorded 47 strikeouts in 51.0 innings. Hinrichsen went 3-6 with a 5.47 earned run average. The Rams also return junior Carter Kriegel to the starting rotation. Kriegel fashioned a 2.08 ERA with 25 strikeouts over 26.0 innings.
 
Juniors Preston Wright, Jake Schope and Will Miller all logged at least 17 innings a year ago. Wright led the Rams with 15 appearances on the mound.
 
Cornell plays its first 14 games away from campus, including a six-game spring break stretch in central Florida March 5-11. The Rams have a neutral-site series with Loras March 19-20 in Cedar Rapids and travel to Illinois College March 26-27, before a home-opening doubleheader with in-state rival Grinnell March 29.
 
The Rams also have approximately 25 reserve games scheduled this spring, a key to player development. Wing is hopeful his team can get back to a somewhat normal routine as the pandemic passes. 
 
"Our program is built on camaraderie, aspects like dining, locker room, dorms and team travel. Due to COVID, we lost many opportunities to do that the past two years," Wing said. "We didn't have that chemistry and brotherhood. Now that we have most of that back, our guys are gelling well together."